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THE     VINTAGE 

A  Romance  of  the  Greek  War  of 
Independence.  By  E.  R  BENSON 
Author  of  ^''Limitations'''^  ^^Dodo^^ 
^^ The   Judgment   Books'^''   etc, 

WITH      ILLUSTRATIONS 


"And  the  wine-press  was  trodden  without  the 
city,  and  blood  came  out  of  the  wine-press  " 


HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 

I^  E  W      YORK       A  IST  D      LONDON 

1898 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 


THE   JUDGMENT   BOOKS.      Illustrated.     Square 
32mo,  Cloth,  $1  00.    (In  Harper^ 8  Little  Novels.) 
An  odd,  suggestive  story.  .  .  .  The  tale  is  well  told,  the 

conceit  a  striking  one.— Hartford  Courant. 
Mr.  Benson  is  at  his  best  thus  far,  in  this  new  book 

rather  than  in  "Dodo,"  and  that  best  is  excellent.— 

Boston  Advertiser. 

LIMITATIONS.    A  Novel.    Post  8vo,  Cloth,  Orna- 
mental, $1  25. 
A  real  novel,  with  depth  as  well  as  sparkle,  and  no 

small  degree  of  literary  merit. — Chicago  Tribune. 
A  strong,  interesting  story  of  English  life  to-day,  with 

plenty  of  humor  but  much  underlying  seriousness  and 

suggestion.  .  .  .  The  novel  has  something  more  than 

cleverness  to  \i.— Hartford  Courant. 

NEW  YORK   AND  LONDON: 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS. 


Copyright,  1898,  by  Harper  &  Bbothkes. 

All  right*  retervtd. 


95^ 
54-7  4- 


vin 


THIS  ROMANCE 

DEALING  WITH  THK  REGENERATION  OF  HER  PEOPLE 

IS    DEDICATED    BY    PERMISSION 

TO 

HER  MAJESTY 
,        OLGA 

QUEEN  OF  THE  HELLENES 


ivi79J^879 


CONTENTS 


PART   I 

THE    VINEYARD 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  House  on  the  Road  to  Nauplia 3 

11.  The  Coming  op  Nicholas  Vidalis 15 

III.  The  Story  of  a  Brigand 32 

IV.  The  Midnight  Ordeal 40 

y.  MiTSos  Picks  Cherries  for  Maria 57 

VI.  The  Song  from  the  Darkness 76 

VII.  The  Port  Dues  of  Corinth 88 

VIII.  The  Mending  of  the  Monastery  Roof     ....  104 

IX.  The  Singer  from  the  Darkness 118 


PART  II 

THE  EVE   OF  THE   GATHERING 

I.  Mitsos  Meets  His  Cousins 143 

II.  Mitsos  and  Yanni  Find  a  Horse 157 

III.  Mitsos  Has  the  Hysterics 175 

IV.  Yanni  Pays  a  Visit  to  the  Turk 184 

V.  The  Vision  at  Bassae 212 

VI.  Three  Little  Men  Fall  Off  their  Horses      .     .  222 

VII.  Mitsos  Disarranges  a  House-roof 236 

VIII.  The  Message  op  Fire 253 

V 


CONTENTS 
PART  III 

THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Te  Deum  Laudamus 271 

II.  Two  Silver  Candlesticks 289 

III.  The  Adventure  of  the  Fire-ship 301 

IV.  The  Training  op  the  Troops 317 

V.  The  Hornets'  Nest  at  Valtetzi 333 

VI.  The  Entry  op  Germanos 351 

VII.  The  Rule  op  the  Senate 373 

VIII.  The  Song  prom  Tripoli 383 

IX.  Private  Nicholas  Vidalis    . 403 

X.  The  Fall  op  Tripoli 418 

XI.  Father  and  Daughter 434 

XII.  The  Search  for  Suleima 447 

XIII.  Nicholas  Goes  Home 459 

XIV.  The  House  on  the  Road  to  Nauplia 471 


ILLUSTEATIONS 


"'COME  AND  SIT  DOWN*" Frontispiece 

"' I  AM  FATHER  ANDREA,'  HE  SHOUTED  "      ....     Facing  p.      62 
"HALF     CARELESSLY     SHE     THREW    INTO    THE    BOAT 

THE  ROSES  SHE  HAD  PICKED" "  84 

"SHE  KISSED   HIM  LIGHTLY  ON  THE  FOREHEAD".      .  "  128 

"MITSOS  SURVEYED  HIM  WITH  EASY  INDIFFERENCE"  "  148 

"YANNI    WAS    STRUGGLING    IN    THE    GRASP    OF    TWO 

MEN,  THE  GREEK  AND  THE  TURK" "  170 

"KA.TSI  AND  A  FINE  SELECTION   OF    COUSINS    ACCOM- 
PANIED THE  two" "  180 

"  AFTER  SUPPER  MITS08  EXPOUNDED  " "  202 

"IN    THE    CENTRE    OF    THE    GREAT    CHAMBER    STOOD 
ONE     WHOM     IT     DAZZLED     HIS     EYES     TO     LOOK 

UPON" "  218 

"  *AH,  BUT  IT  IS  GOOD  TO  BE  WITH   YOU   AGAIN  !  '"  .  "  246 
"MITSOS     TORE     UP     GREAT     HANDFULS     OF     UNDER- 
GROWTH  AND   THREW   THEM   ON" "  266 

"MIXED    WITH    THE    NOISE    OF    THE     SINGING,    ROSE 
ONE  GREAT  SOB  OF    A    THANKFUL    PEOPLE    BORN 

AGAIN" "  286 

"BOTH  THE  BOYS,   SEIZING   THEIR  OARS,  ROWED  FOR 

LIFE" "  312 

"CASTING     HIMSELF     DOWN     THERE,     IN     AN      AGONY 

BITTER   SWEET,   HE   PRAYED" "  328 

vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"MITSOS,  PLYING  AT  HIM  LIKli  A  WILD-CAT  "  .  .  .  Facing  p.  346 
"BORNE   IN   A   CHAIR   ON    THE    SHOULDERS    OF    FOUR 

monks" "  356 

' '  HE   HAD  CLAMBERED    UP    AND    DROPPED    DOWN    ON 

THE   OTHER  SIDE" "  388 

"UNBUCKLING     HIS     SWORD,     HE     LAID     IT     ON     THE 

TABLE " "  410 

' '  YANNI   WAS  BY  HIM   WITH  A    BRILLIANT    SMILE    ON 

HIS  FACE " "  420 

"'WOULD     YOU      SLAY     ME,     FATHER?'     SHE     CRIED 

again" '•         442 

"BY     AN     EFFORT      HE      RAISED      HIMSELF      ON     HIS 

elbow" "         462 

"'SULEIMA!'  cried  MITSOS  " "         472 


THE  VINTAGE 


pact  IT 
THE    VINEYARD 


CHAPTER   I 
THE   HOUSE   01^  THE   ROAD   TO   NAUPLIA 

Nauplia,  huddled  together  on  the  edge  of  its  glitter- 
ing bay,  and  grilled  beneath  the  hot  stress  of  the  mid- 
summer noon,  stood  silent  as  a  city  of  the  dead.  Down 
the  middle  of  the  main  street,  leading  up  from  the  quay 
to  the  square,  lay  a  scorching  ribbon  of  sunshine,  and 
the  narrow  strips  of  shadow,  sharp  cut  and  blue,  spoke 
of  the  South. 

Along  one  side  of  the  square  ran  the  barracks  of  the 
Turkish  garrison  of  occupation,  two-storied  buildings  of 
brown  stone,  solid  but  airless,  and  faced  with  a  line  of 
arcade.  These  contained  the  three  companies  of  men 
who  were  stationed  in  the  town  itself,  less  fortunate  in 
this  oven  of  heat  than  the  main  part  of  the  garrison  who 
held  the  airier  fortress  of  Palamede  behind,  overlooking 
the  plain  from  a  height  of  five  hundred  feet.  Down  the 
west  side  stood  the  quarters  of  the  officers,  and  opposite, 
the  prison,  full  as  usual  to  overflowing  of  the  native 
Greeks,  cast  there  for  default  of  payment  to  the  Turkish 
usurers  of  an  interest  of  forty  or  fifty  per  cent,  on  some 
small  loan  ;  for  these  new  Turkish  laws  of  1820  with  re- 
gard to  debt  had  made  the  prisons  more  populous  than 
ever.  A  row  of  shops  and  a  couple  of  cafes  along  the 
north  struck  a  more  domestic  note. 

A  narrow  street  led  out  of  the  square  eastwards,  and 
passing  the  length  of  the  town,  burrowed  through  the 

3 


THE    VINTAGE 

wall  of  Venetian  fortification  in  the  manner  of  a  tunnel. 
On  the  right  the  ontline  of  the  gray  fortress  hill,  pre- 
cipitously pitched  towards  the  town  in  a  jagged  edge 
like  forked  lightning,  rose  steep  and  craggy,  weathered 
by  the  wind  in  places  to  a  tawny  red,  and  peppered  over 
with  sun-dried  tufts  of  grass.  Along  the  base  of  this 
the  road  ran,  cobbled  unevenly  in  the  Turkish  fashion, 
and  after  passing  two  or  three  villas  which  stood  white 
and  segregate  among  their  gardens  of  flowering  pome- 
granate and  serge-clad  cypress,  struck  out  into  the  plain. 
Vineyards  and  rattling  maize  fields  bordered  it  on  one 
hand;  on  the  other,  beds  of  rushes  and  clumps  of  king- 
thistles,  which  peopled  the  little  swamp  between  it  and 
the  bay.  The  spring  had  been  very  rainless,  and  these 
early  days  of  June  saw  the  country  already  yellow  and 
sere.  The  clumps  of  succulent  leaves  round  the  base  of 
the  asphodels  were  dried  and  brown ;  only  the  virile 
stems  with  their  seeding  sprouts  remained  green  and 
vigorous. 

The  blinding  whiteness  of  the  forenoon  gave  place  be- 
fore one  of  the  day  to  a  veiled  but  unabated  heat,  and 
sirocco  began  to  blow  up  from  the  south.  Furnace- 
mouthed,  it  raised  mad  little  whirlwinds,  which  spun 
across  the  road  and  over  the  hot,  reaped  fields  in  petulant 
eddies,  and  powdered  all  they  passed  with  fine  white 
dust.  Two  or  three  hawks,  in  despair  of  spying  their 
dinner  through  this  palpable  air,  and  being  continually 
blown  downwind  in  the  attempt  to  poise,  were  following 
the  example  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  seeking  their 
craggy  homes  on  the  sides  of  Palamede  till  the  tempest 
should  be  overpast.  A  few  cicalas  in  a  line  of  white 
poplars  by  the  wayside  alone  maintained  their  alacrity, 
and  clicked  and  whirred  as  if  sirocco  was  of  all  airs  the 
.  most  invigorating.     The  hills  of  Argolis  to  the  north 

4 


THE    VINEYARD 

were  already  getting  dim  and  veiled,  and  losing  them- 
selves in  an  ague  of  heat. 

By  the  roadside,  a  mile  from  the  town,  stood  a  small 
wine-shop,  in  front  of  which  projected  a  rough  wooden 
portico  open  to  the  air  on  three  sides,  and  roofed  with 
boughs  of  oleander,  plucked  leaf  and  flower  together. 
A  couple  of  rough  stools  and  a  rickety  table  stood  in  the 
shade  in  order  to  invite  passers-by  to  rest,  and  so  to 
drink,  and  the  owner  himself  was  lying  on  a  bench  under 
the  house  wall  in  wide-mouthed  sleep.  A  surly-looking 
dog,  shaggy  and  sturdy,  guarded  his  slumbers  in  the 
intervals  of  its  own,  and  snapped  ineffectually  at  the 
flies. 

Directly  opposite  the  wine-shop  stood  a  whitewashed 
house,  built  in  a  rather  more  pretentious  style  than  the 
dwellings  of  most  Greek  peasants,  and  fronted  by  a  gar- 
den, to  which  a  row  of  white  poplars  gave  a  specious 
and  private  air.  A  veranda  ran  around  two  sides  of  it, 
floored  with  planks,  and  up  the  wooden  pillars,  by  which 
it  was  supported,  streamed  long  shoots  of  flowering  roses. 
A  low  wooden  settee,  cushioned  with  two  Greek  saddle- 
bags, stood  in  the  shade  of  the  veranda,  and  on  it  were 
sitting  two  men,  one  of  whom  was  dressed  in  the  long 
black  cassock  of  a  priest — both  silent. 

Then  for  the  first  time  a  human  note  overscored  the 
thundering  of  the  hot  wind,  and  a  small  gray  cat  scuf- 
fled round  the  corner  of  the  veranda,  pursued  by  a  great 
long-limbed  boy,  laughing  to  himself.  He  was  dressed  in 
a  white  linen  tunic  and  tight-fitting  linen  trousers ;  he 
had  no  shoes,  no  socks,  and  no  hat.  He  almost  fell  over 
the  settee  before  he  saw  the  two  men,  and  then  paused, 
laughing  and  panting. 

*^She  was  after  the  fish,"  he  explained,  ^^and  I  was 
after  her.     She  shall  taste  a  slapping.'^ 

5 


THE    VINTAGE 

One  of  the  two  men  looked  up  at  the  boy  and  smiled. 

^'  You'll  get  into  mischief  if  you  run  about  in  the  heat 
at  noonday  Avithout  your  cap  on,"  he  said.  "  Come  and 
sit  down.  Where  are  your  manners,  Mitsos  ?  Here  is 
Father  Andrea." 

Mitsos  knelt  down,  and  the  priest  put  his  hand  on  the 
boy's  rumpled  black  hair. 

"God  make  you  brave  and  good,"  he  said,  "and  for- 
give all  your  sins !" 

"Now  sit  down,  Mitsos,'' said  his  father.  "Who  is 
going  to  taste  a  slapping  ?" 

The  boy's  face,  which  had  grown  grave  as  he  received 
the  priest's  blessing,  dimpled  into  smiles  again. 

"Why,  my  cat,  Psepseka,"  he  said.  "The  greedy 
woman  was  going  down  to  the  cellar  where  I  put  the 
fish,  and  I  went  after  her  and  caught  her  by  the  tail. 
She  spit  at  me  like  a  little  she-devil.  Then  she  scratched 
me,  and  I  let  go.  But  soon  I  will  catch  her  again,  and 
she  shall  pay  for  it  all  twice  over,  Turkish  fashion.    See  !" 

He  held  out  a  big  brown  hand,  down  which  Psepseka 
had  scored  three  red  lines. 

"What  a  fierce  woman  I"  said  his  father.  "But  you're 
overbig  to  run  about  after  little  cats.  You're  eighteen 
now,  Mitsos,  and  your  uncle  comes  here  this  evening. 
He'll  think  you're  a  boy  still." 

The  boy  looked  up  from  his  examination  of  his  hand. 

"Uncle  Nicholas  ?"  he  asked. 

"Yes.  Go  and  wash  your  hand,  and  then  lay  the 
table.  Put  some  eggs  to  boil,  and  get  out  some  bread 
and  cheese,  and  pick  some  cherries." 

Mitsos  got  up. 

"  Will  the  father  eat  with  us  ?" 

"  Surely ;  and  put  your  shoes  on  before  you  come  to 
dinner." 

6 


THE    VINEYARD 

And  without  waiting  the  boy  was  off  into  the  house. 

The  priest  looked  up  at  Mitsos'  father  as  he  disap- 
peared. 

''  He  is  full  young  yet/'  he  said. 

"So  I  think,  and  so  perhaps  Nicholas  will  think.  Yet 
who  knows  what  Nicholas  thinks  ?  But  he  is  a  good 
lad,  and  he  can  keep  a  secret.  He  is  strong  too  ;  he 
walked  from  here  to  Corinth  last  week,  and  came  back 
next  day,  and  he  grows  like  the  aloe  flower." 

The  priest  rose  and  looked  fiercely  out  over  the  garden. 
*'  May  the  God  of  Justice  give  the  Turks  what  they  have 
deserved  !"  he  cried.  *^May  He  send  them  bitterness  to 
eat  and  death  to  drink !  May  their  children  be  father- 
less and  their  wives  widows !  They  had  no  mercy ;  may 
they  find  none !  The  curse  of  a  priest  of  God  be  upon 
them !" 

Mitsos'  father  sat  still  watching  him.  Eleven  years 
ago  Father  Andrea  had  been  obliged  to  make  a  journey 
to  Athens  to  settle  about  some  plot  of  land  belonging  to 
his  wife,  who  had  lately  died,  and,  if  possible,  to  sell  it — 
for  under  the  Turkish  taxes  land  was  more  often  an  ex- 
pense than  a  revenue.  He  had  taken  with  him  his  only 
daughter,  a  girl  of  five  or  six  years  of  age,  pretty  even 
then,  and  with  promise  of  wonderful  beauty  to  come. 
On  his  way  home,  just  outside  Athens,  he  had  been  at- 
tacked by  some  half  dozen  Turks,  and,  after  a  desperate, 
hopeless  resistance,  had  been  left  on  the  road  more  dead 
than  alive,  and  his  daughter  had  been  carried  off,  to  be 
trained,  no  doubt,  to  the  doom  of  some  Turkish  harem. 
He  must  have  lain  there  stunned  for  some  hours,  for 
when  he  awoke  again  to  an  aching  consciousness  of  soul 
and  body,  the  day  was  already  reddening  to  its  close, 
and  the  shadow  of  the  hills  of  Daphne  had  stretched  it- 
self across  the  plain  to  where  he  lay.     Wounded   and 

7 


THE    VINTAGE 

bleeding  as  he  was,  and  robbed  of  the  money  he  had  got 
for  the  land,  he  had  dragged  himself  back  to  Athens, 
and  stayed  there  for  weeks,  until  his  hope  of  ever  find- 
ing his  Theodora  again  had  faded  and  died.  For  it  was 
scant  justice  that  was  given  to  the  Greeks  by  their  mas- 
ters, who  treated  them  as  a  thoughtless  man  will  scarce 
treat  an  animal  that  annoys  him.  Rape,  cruelty,  robbery 
was  their  method  of  rule,  and  for  the  unruly  a  noose. 

Since  that  time  one  thought,  and  one  only,  possessed 
his  brain,  a  thought  which  whispered  to  him  all  day 
and  shouted  to  him  in  sleep — the  lust  for  vengeance  ;  not 
on  one  Turk  alone,  on  those  who  had  carried  Theodora 
off,  but  on  the  whole  of  that  race  of  devils.  For  eleven 
years  he  had  thought  and  schemed  and  worked,  at  first 
only  with  nothing  more  than  wild  words  and  bloody 
thoughts,  but  of  late  in  a  soberer  belief  that  his  day 
would  come ;  for  organized  schemes  of  throwing  off  the 
Turkish  rule  were  on  foot,  and  though  they  were  still 
things  only  to  be  whispered,  it  was  known  that  agents 
of  the  Club  of  Patriots  were  doing  sure  and  silent  work 
all  over  the  country. 

Father  Andrea  was  a  tall,  finely  made  man,  and,  to 
judge  from  his  appearance,  the  story  that  he  would  tell 
you,  how  he  and  his  family  were  of  pure  Greek  descent, 
had  good  warrant.  He  came  from  the  southwest  part 
of  Argolis,  a  rough,  mountainous  land  which  the  Turks 
had  never  entirely  subdued.  His  father  had  died  five 
years  before,  but  when  Andrea  went  home  after  the  capt- 
ure of  his  daughter,  the  old  man  had  turned  him  out 
of  the  house  and  refused  to  see  him  again. 

''  A  child  is  a  gift  which  God  has  given  the  father,'' 
said  he ;  ^^  it  were  better  for  him  to  lose  himself  than 
lose  God's  gift ;  and  now  we,  who  are  of  the  few  who 
have  not  mixed  with  that  devil-brood — we  are  fallen  even 

8 


THE    VINEYARD 

as  others.  You  have  brought  disgrace  on  me,  and  on 
our  dead,  and  on  our  living,  and  I  would  sooner  have 
seen  you  dead  yourself  than  hear  this  from  your  lips  V 

'^They  were  six  to  one,^'  said  Andrea,  "and  they  left 
me  for  dead.     Would  to  God  they  had  killed  me  !" 

**  Would  to  God  they  had  killed  you,"  said  his  father, 
"and  her  too." 

"The  fault  was  not  mine.  Will  you  not  forgive 
me?" 

"Yes,  when  the  fault  is  wiped  out  by  the  death  of 
Theodora." 

"  Of  Theodora  ?     What  has  she  done  ?" 

"She  will  grow  up  in  shame,  and  mate  with  devils. 
Go!" 

Five  years  passed  before  they  met  again.  But  one 
day  Andrea's  father,  left  lonely  in  his  house,  moved  by 
some  vague  desire  which  he  hardly  unxlerstood  himself, 
saddled  his  mule  and  went  to  Nauplia,  whither  Andrea 
had  gone.  He  was  very  old  and  very  feeble  in  body, 
and  perhaps  he  felt  that  death  could  not  be  far  from 
him  ;  and  to  Andrea's  cry  of  welcome  and  wonder — 
*'I  have  come  to  you,  my  son,"  said  the  old  man, 
"for  otherwise  we  are  both  alone,  and — and  I  am  very 
old." 

Day  by  day  he  used  to  sit  looking  up  and  down  the 
road  for  Theodora.  There  was  a  bend  in  it  some  quarter 
of  a  mile  farther  up,  and  sometimes,  when  the  spring 
days  were  warm  to  his  bones,  he  would  hobble  up  to  the 
corner  and  sit  waiting  for  her  there,  where  he  could 
command  a  longer  stretch  of  country.  But  Theodora 
came  not,  and  one  evening,  when  he  came  back,  he  sank 
into. a  chair  without  strength  and  called  Andrea  to  him. 

"I  am  dying,"  he  said,  "and  this  is  no  season  to 
waste  idle  words.     When  Theodora  comes  back" — he 

9 


THE    VINTAGE 

always  clung  to  the  idea  that  she  would  come  back — 
'^^tell  her  that  I  waited  for  her  every  day,  for  I  should 
have  loved  to  see  her  again.  And  if  you  find  it  hard, 
Andrea,  to  forgive  her,  forgive  her  for  my  sake,  for  she 
was  very  little  and  the  fault  was  not  hers  ;  nor  is  it  yours, 
and  I  was  hard  on  you ;  yet  if  I  had  loved  you  not,  I  should 
have  cared  the  less.  But  if,  when  the  day  comes,  you 
spare  your  hand  and  do  not  take  vengeance  on  the  Turks 
to  the  uttermost,  then  may  my  ghost  tear  you  limb  from 
limb,  and  give  you  to  the  vultures  and  the  jackals.^' 

The  old  man  rose  from  his  chair. 

*' Vengeance  !"  he  cried ;  ^'^  death  to  man,  woman,  and 
child.  Smite  and  spare  not,  for  you  are  a  priest  of  God 
and  they  are  of  the  devil.     Smite,  smite,  avenge  !" 

He  sank  back  in  his  chair  again,  his  head  fell  over 
on  to  his  shoulder,  and  his  arms  rattled  against  the  wood- 
work. And  with  vengeance  on  his  lips,  and  the  desire 
of  vengeance  in  his  heart,  he  died. 

From  that  day  a  double  portion  of  his  spirit  seemed  to 
have  descended  on  Father  Andrea.  One  hope  and  one 
desire  ruled  his  life — to  help  in  wiping  out  from  Greece 
the  whole  race  of  Turks.  To  him  innocent  or  guilty 
mattered  not;  they  were  of  one  accursed  brood.  But 
though  the  longing  burned  like  fire  within  him,  he  kept 
it  in,  choking  it  as  it  were  with  fresh  fuel.  He  was  will- 
ing to  wait  till  all  was  ready.  For  a  year  or  two  large 
organizations  had  been  at  work  in  North  Greece  collect- 
ing funds,  and,  by  means  of  secret  agents,  feeding  and 
fanning  the  smouldering  hate  against  their  brutal  masters 
in  the  minds  of  the  people.  Soon  would  the  net  be  so 
drawn  round  them  that  escape  was  impossible.  And 
then  vengeance  in  the  name  of  God. 

Mitsos  had  encouraged  a  small  charcoal  fire  to  heat 
the  water,  and  he  went  to  fetch  the  eggs.     Two  min- 

10 


THE    VINEYAED 

utes  of  puckered  brow  were  devoted  to  the  number  which 
he  was  free  to  boil.  His  father  usually  ate  two,  the 
priest — and  he  cursed  his  own  good  memory — never  ate 
more  than  one,  and  he  himself  invariably  ate  as  many  as 
he  could  possibly  get.  He  looked  at  the  basket  of  eggs 
thoughtfully.  "  It  is  a  hungry  day/'  he  said  to  himself, 
/'and  the  hens  are  very  strong.  Perhaps  father  might 
eat  three,  and  perhaps  Father  Andrea  might  eat  two. 
Then  I  am  allowed  three,  a  tale  of  eight." 

Mitsos  drew  a  sigh  of  satisfaction  at  this  liberal  con- 
clusion, and  his  eyes  began  to  smile  ;  his  mouth  followed 
suit,  and  showed  a  row  of  very  white  teeth. 

"  It  is  such  a  pity  that  I  am  always  hungry,"  he  said 
to  himself;  "but  when  Uncle  Nicholas  measures  me  he 
will  see  I  have  grown." 

And  putting  the  eight  eggs  into  the  pot,  he  ran  off  to 
pick  the  cherries. 

For  the  last  year  both  Constantine,  Mitsos'  father,  and 
the  boy  had  worked  the  little  land  he  owned,  like  com- 
mon laborers.  Two  years  before  a  Turkish  pasha, 
Abdul  Achmet  by  name,  in  passing  through  the  country 
had  been  struck  by  the  Avilion  climate  of  Nauplia,  and 
had  built. a  house  on  the  shore  of  the  bay.  The  land 
belonged  to  Constantine,  and  the  Turk  had  promised 
him  a  fair  price  for  it,  feeling  that  a  less  scrupulous  man 
would  have  taken  it  off-hand.  At  the  same  time  he  in- 
timated that  if  he  would  not  take  a  fair  price  for  it,  he 
would  get  no  price  at  all.  The  money,  of  course,  was 
still  owing,  and  on  Constantine's  old  vineyard  stood  the 
house,  now  finished.  Abdul  Achmet,  who  was  Governor 
of  Argos,  took  up  his  quarters  here  permanently,  with 
his  harem  ;  for  it  was  within  easy  distance  of  Argos,  and 
on  warm  evenings  the  women  were  often  seen  in  the  gar- 
den looking  over  the  sea-wall  which  separated  it  from 

11 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  bay,  a  wall  some  ten  feet  high,  over  which  creepers 
sprawled  and  flamed.  Abdul  himself  was  a  fat,  middle- 
aged  Turk,  slow  of  movement  and  sparing  of  speech. 
In  temper  of  mind  he  was  a  Gallio,  and  his  neglect  to 
pay  Constantine  the  money  he  owed  him  was  as  much 
due  to  negligence  as  to  the  usual  Turkish  method  of 
dealing  with  Greeks,  which  was  not  to  pay  at  all.  His 
harem,  for  the  years  had  long  since  quenched  the  ardor 
of  his  body,  were  given  a  good  deal  of  freedom,  and  were 
allowed  to  wander  about  the  garden,  which  was  walled 
off  from  the  country  road,  as  they  pleased. 

Constantine  had  applied  several  times  for  payment,  but 
had  already  given  up  hopes  of  securing  any  equivalent 
for  the  land  seized.  He  was  a  Greek  of  the  upper  peasant 
class — that  is  to  say,  of  the  first  class  of  the  country — 
who  lived  on  their  own  land  and  employed  labor.  Like 
his  race,  he  was  thrifty  and  industrious;  but  now,  between 
the  loss  of  his  vineyard  and  the  iniquitous  increase  in  the 
last  year's  taxes,  which  promised  to  grow  indefinitely,  he 
found  it  difficult  to  do  more  than  make  a  sparing  liveli- 
hood. He  and  Mitsos  worked  all  the  spring  with  the 
laborers  in  the  harvest-field,  and  in  the  autumn,  when 
they  had  finished  making  the  wine  from  a  half -acre  of 
vines  still  left  them,  as  laborers  in  the  neighboring  vine- 
yards. 

Constantine  felt  the  change  in  his  position  acutely. 
Instead  of  being  a  man  with  men  under  him,  he  was 
himself  obliged  to  work  for  his  bread,  and,  what  was  an 
added  bitterness,  it  was  by  gross  injustice,  and  through 
no  fault  of  his  own,  that  he  was  thus  reduced.  Every 
year  the  taxation  became  more  and  more  heavy ;  only  six 
months  before  he  had  been  obliged  to  sell  his  horse,  for 
a  new  tax  was  levied  on  horses,  and  all  that  remained 
were  an  acre  or  two  of  ground,  a  pony,  his  house,  and  his 

12 


THE    VINEYARD 

boat.  But  of  late  he  seemed  to  have  taken  up  a  patient, 
uncomplaining  attitude,  which  much  puzzled  the  growl- 
ing Greeks  whom  he  met  at  the  cafes.  While  others 
grumbled  and  cursed  the  Turks  beneath  their  breath, 
Oonstantine  would  sit  with  a  quiet  smile  on  his  lips, 
looking  half  amused,  half  indulgent.  Only  two  nights 
before  a  neighbor  had  said  to  him,  point  blank  : 

*' You  have  suffered  more  than  any  of  us,  except  per- 
haps those  who  have  daughters.  Why  do  you  sit  there 
smiling  ?     Are  things  so  prosperous  with  you  ?" 

The  question  was  evidently  prearranged,  for  the  two 
or  three  men  sitting  round  stopped  talking  and  waited 
for  him  to  answer. 

Constantino  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his  chibouk  be- 
fore replying. 

^'  Things  are  not  prosperous  with  me,"  he  said  ;  "but 
I  am  a  man  who  can  hold  his  tongue.  This  I  may  tell 
you,  however :  Nicholas  Yidalis  comes  here  in  three 
days." 

"And  then?" 

"Nicholas  will  advise  you  to  hold  your  tongues,  too. 
He  will  certainly  tell  you  that,  and  it  may  be  he  will  tell 
you  something  besides.  I  will  be  going  home.  Good- 
night, friends." 

And  now,  when  Father  Andrea  was  cursing  the  Turks 
in  the  name  of  God,  though  Constantino  crossed  himself 
at  that  name,  he  watched  him  with  the  same  smile. 
Then  he  said  : 

"  Father  Andrea,  I  ask  your  pardon,  but  Nicholas 
does  not  like  too  much  talk.  He  says  that  talking  never 
yet  mended  a  matter.  You  know  him — in  these  things 
he  is  not  a  man  of  many  words,  save  where  it  serves  some 
purpose." 

The  priest  turned  round. 

13 


THE    VINTAGE 

''  You  are  right  and  wrong/'  he  said  ;  "  Nicholas  is  a 
man  of  few  words  ;  but  I  have  made  a  vow  that  for  every 
time  the  sun  rises,  and  at  every  noonday  and  every  sun- 
set, I  will  curse  the  Turk  in  God's  name.  That  vow  I 
will  keep." 

Constantine  shrugged  his  shoulders  slightly. 

"  Well,  here  is  Mitsos.  Do  not  curse  before  the  boy. 
Mitsos,  is  dinner  ready  ?" 

Mitsos  wrinkled  up  his  forehead  till  his  eyebrows 
nearly  disappeared  under  his  curly  hair. 

"  Yes,  it  is  ready ;  but  for  me,  I  can  find  one  shoe 
only." 

''  Well,  look  for  the  other." 

*^I  have  looked  for  it,"  said  the  boy,  ''but  it  is  not, 
and  I  ache  for  emptiness." 

He  raised  his  eyes  appealingly  to  his  father,  but  Con- 
stantine was  firm. 

''You  must  find  it  first,"  he  said.  " Come,  Father,  let 
us  go  in." 

Father  Andrea  followed  him,  leaving  Mitsos  half-shod 
and  disconsolate. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE   COMING   OF   NICHOLAS   VIDALIS 

An  hour  later,  Mitsos,  having  found  his  shoe  and 
eaten  his  dinner  in  decency,  was  curled  up  in  the  shady 
corner  of  the  veranda  fast  asleep.  He  had  been  out 
fishing  most  of  the  night  before,  and  as  the  harvest  was 
over  there  was  no  work  on  hand  except  to  water  the  vines 
when  the  sun  was  off  the  vineyard,  which  would  not  be 
before  four.  He  slept,  as  his  father  said,  like  a  dog — 
that  is  to  say,  he  curled  himself  up  and  fell  into  a  light 
sleep,  from  which  any  noise  would  arouse  him — as  soon 
as  he  shut  his  eyes. 

He  was  an  enormous  boy,  of  the  Greek  country  type, 
close  on  the  edge  of  manhood,  with  black,  curly  hair 
coming  down  onto  his  shoulders,  straight,  black  eyebrows, 
long,  black  eyelashes,  and  black  eyes.  His  nose  was 
short  and  square  -  tipped,  his  mouth  the  fine,  scornful 
mouth  of  his  race,  quick  to  reflect  the  most  passing 
shades  of  emotion.  His  hands  and  face  were  of  that 
inimitable  color  for  which  sun,  wind,  and  rain  are  the 
sole  cosmetic — a  particularly  soft,  clear  brown,  shading  off 
a  little  round  the  eyes  and  under  the  hair.  As  he  slept, 
with  his  head  thrown  back,  there  showed  on  his  neck  the 
sharp  line  where  the  tanning  ended  and  the  whiter  skin 
began.  He  had  that  out- door  appearance  which  is  the 
inheritance  of  those  whose  fathers  and  grandfathers  have 
lived  wholesomely  in  the  open  air  from  sunrise  to  sunset 

15 


THE    VINTAGE 

all  their  lives,  and  who  have  followed  the  same  course  of 
life  themselves.  He  had  kicked  off  his  shoes  again,  and 
his  hands  were  clasped  behind  his  head,  and  what  would 
at  once  characterize  him  to  any  one  who  was  acquaint- 
ed with  the  Greek  peasant  race  was  that  both  hands  and 
feet  were  clean. 

He  slept  for  a  couple  of  hours,  and  was  awakened 
by  the  pale,  dust  -  ridden  sunshine  creeping  round  the 
corner  of  the  veranda  and  falling  on  his  head.  At 
first  he  rolled  over  again  with  his  face  to  the  Avail,  but 
in  a  few  moments,  realizing  the  uselessness  of  tempo- 
rizing, he  got  up  and  stretched  himself  lazily  and  luxu- 
riously, with  a  cavernous  yawn.  Then  he  went  round 
to  the  stone  fountain  which  stood  at  the  back  of  the 
house  and  plunged  his  head  into  the  bright,  cool  water 
to  finish  the  process  of  awakening,  and,  seeing  that  the 
tall  shade  of  the  poplar  had  stretched  its  length  across 
the  vineyard,  took  up  his  spade  and  went  off  to  his 
work. 

The  stream,  which  passed  through  their  garden  and 
out  into  the  bay  below,  ran  for  some  half-mile  along  a 
little  raised  aqueduct,  banked  up  with  earth  to  keep  it 
to  its  course.  It  passed  between  small  vineyard  plots  on 
each  side,  so  that  the  water  could  be  turned  into  them 
for  irrigation,  and  Mitsos  went  out  of  the  garden  gate 
straight  into  their  vineyard,  which  lay  just  above. 

Each  of  the  vines  stood  in  its  several  little  artificial 
hollow  dug  in  the  ground,  and  he  first  cleared  the  water- 
channels  in  the  vineyard  of  all  accumulated  rubbish  and 
soil,  so  that,  when  he  let  the  stream  in,  it  might  flow  to 
all  the  trees.  Having  done  this,  he  went  back  to  the 
aqueduct  and  removed  a  spadeful  of  earth  from  the  bank, 
which  he  placed  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  itself,  stamping 
it  down  to  keep  it  firm,  so  that  the  whole  of  the  water 

16 


THE    VINEYARD 

was  diverted  into  the  vineyard.  Standing,  as  he  did,  a 
few  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  vines,  he  could  see 
when  the  water  had  reached  them  all,  and  then,  hooking 
out  his  temporary  dam  from  the  bed  of  the  stream,  he 
replaced  it,  so  as  to  again  send  the  water  back  into  its 
channel ;  then,  jumping  down,  he  hoed  away  round  the 
roots  of  the  vines,  so  that  the  water  might  sink  well  in 
close  to  them,  for  there  had  been  no  rain  for  weeks,  and 
they  must  be  thoroughly  watered. 

The  sun  was  off  the  land,  but  it  was  still  very  hot,  for 
the  sirocco  had  increased  in  violence  and  was  sweeping 
over  the  fields  like  the  blast  from  the  pit.  On  the  wind- 
ward side  of  the  trees  the  dark  rich  green  of  the  vine- 
leaves  was  powdered  over  with  the  fine  white  dust  driven 
up  from  the  bare,  harvested  fields.  Mitsos  stopped  now 
and  then  to  wipe  the  sweat  off  his  forehead,  but  other- 
wise he  worked  hard  and  continuously,  singing  to  him- 
self the  peasant  song  of  the  vine-diggers. 

His  work  was  nearly  over  when  he  saw  his  father 
coming  towards  him.  The  latter  stood  for  a  moment 
on  the  edge  of  the  bank,  looking  at  what  the  boy  had 
been  doing. 

*^Poor  little  Mitsos,"  he  said,  ''you  have  had  to  work 
alone  to-day!  I  was  obliged  to  go  into  Nauplia.  You 
have  watered  the  vines  very  well.  You  have  finished, 
have  you  not  ?" 

"  There  are  three  more  vines  here,"  said  Mitsos,  ''which 
are  yet  to  be  dug.     But  it  won't  take  long." 

His  father  stepped  down  into  the  vineyard. 

"Y^ou  can  go  and  rest,"  he  said.     'TU  finish  those." 

Mitsos  threw  down  his  spade. 

"  Oh,  it  is  hotter  than  hell  !"  he  said.  "Uncle  Nich- 
olas will  be  roasted  coming  across  the  plain." 

"He  will  want  a  bath,"  said  Constantine.  "Do  you 
B  17 


THE    VINTAGE 

remember  his  making  a  bath  last  year  out  of  those  spare 
planks  ?     I  suppose  it  holds  water  still  ?" 

"I  wish  it  didn^t  hold  so  much/'  said  Mitsos ;  '^it 
holds  six  cans." 

Constantine  laughed. 

^<  And  Mitsos'  back  will  ache,  eh  ?" 

'^  I  hope  not ;  but  it  is  a  great  affair  to  carry  six  cans 
of  water  from  the  fountain." 

Constantine  worked  on  for  half  an  hour  or  so,  while 
Mitsos  looked  on. 

"There,  that  is  finished,"  he  said,  at  last.  ''You 
won't  go  fishing  to-night,  will  you  ?  The  wind  is  too 
strong." 

"  It  may  go  down  at  sunset,"  said  Mitsos  ;  "but  there 
are  enough  fish  for  to-night  and  to-morrow  night,  un- 
less this  hot  weather  turns  them.  But  I  put  them  in  the 
cellar  in  water,  and  I  expect  they  will  keep." 

They  walked  back  together,  but  as  soon  as  they  got 
onto  the  road  they  saw  that  three  mules  were  standing 
opposite  the  house.     Constantine  quickened  his  pace. 

"  Nicholas  must  have  come,"  he  said.  "He  was  ever 
quicker  than  a  man  could  expect.     Come,  Mitsos." 

The  veranda  was  full  of  boxes  and  rugs,  and  the  two 
went  through  into  the  house.  A  man  was  sitting  on  a 
low  chair  by  the  window.     As  they  came  in  he  got  up. 

"Well,  Constantine,"  he  said,  "how  is  all  with  you  ? 
I  have  just  come.  And  Mitsos,  little  Mitsos  is  growing 
still.  I  will  give  you  a  hundred  piastres  when  you  are 
as  tall  as  your  father.  It  is  the  devil's  own  day,  Con- 
stantine, and  I  am  full  inside  and  out  of  this  gritty  wind. 
Man  is  not  a  hen  that  he  should  sit  all  day  in  the  dust. 
May  I  have  a  bath  at  once  ?  Mitsos,  we  made  a  bath  to- 
gether.    The  mule  men  will  help  you  to  fill  it." 

He  laid  his  hand  on  Mitsos'  shoulder. 

18 


THE    VINEYARD 

'*  You  look  fitter  than  a  mountain  hawk/'  he  said. 
*^  Get  me  plenty  of  water,  and  give  me  ten  minutes  of 
scouring,  and  then  we  Vill  talk  together  while  I  dress. '* 

Mitsos  left  the  room,  and  Constantino  turned  to  his 
brother-in-law.     "  Well  ?''  he  asked. 

^'  He  is  a  fine  boy,"  said  Nicholas ;  "  I  must  see  if  he 
can  be  trusted." 

^'  A  Turk  would  trust  him,"  said  his  father,  eagerly. 

'^  Ha  I  we  shall  not  require  that.  But  in  the  face  of 
fear  ?" 

Constantine  laughed. 

^*He  does  not  know  what  fear  is." 

*^Then  he  has  that  to  learn,"  said  Nicholas,  *^for  the 
bravest  men  learn  that  best.  No  one  can  be  brave  un- 
til he  has  known  the  cold  fear  clutching  at  the  stomach. 
However,  we  shall  see." 

Nicholas  was  dressed  like  Constantine,  in  Albanian 
costume,  with  a  woollen  cloak  thrown  over  one  shoulder, 
a  red  embroidered  jacket,  cut  very  low  and  open,  show- 
ing the  shirt,  a  long  fustanella  and  white  leggings,  tied 
with  tasselled  ends.  He  was  tall  and  spare,  and  his  face 
seemed  the  face  of  a  man  of  forty  who  had  lived  very 
hard,  or  of  a  man  of  fifty  who  had  lived  very  carefully. 
In  reality  he  was  nearly  sixty.  He  was  clean  shaven 
and  very  pale  in  complexion,  as  one  who  had  never  lived 
an  out-door  life ;  but  you  might  have  been  led  to  reject 
such  a  conclusion,  if  you  remarked  the  wonderful  clear- 
ness and  freshness  of  his  skin.  His  eyes  looked  out  from 
deep  under  a  broad  bar  which  crossed  his  forehead  from 
temple  to  temple  ;  they  were  large  and  dark  gray  in  color, 
and  gathered  additional  depth  from  his  thick  black  eye- 
brows. His  nose  was  finely  chiselled,  tending  to  aqui- 
line, with  thin,  curved  nostrils,  which  seemed  never  still, 
but  expanded  and  contracted  with  the  movement  of  the 

19 


THE    VINTAGE 

nostrils  of  some  well-bred  horse  snuffing  some  disquieting 
thing.  His  mouth  was  ascetically  thin-lipped,  but  firm 
and  clean  cut.  His  hair,  still  thick  and  growing  low  on  his 
forehead  and  long  behind,  was  barely  touched  with  gray 
above  the  temples.  His  head  was  set  very  straight  and 
upright  on  a  rather  long  neck,  supported  on  two  well- 
drilled  shoulders.  In  height  he  could  not  have  been  less 
than  six  feet  three,  and  his  slightness  of  make  made  him 
appear  almost  gigantic. 

''  I  have  travelled  from  Corinth  to-day,"  he  continued, 
'''and  there  is  much  to  tell  you.  At  last  the  Club  of 
Patriots  have  put  the  Morea  entirely  into  my  hands.  I 
have  leave  to  use  the  funds  as  I  think  fit,  and  it  is  I  who 
shall  say  the  word  for  the  vintage  of  the  Turks  to  begin. 
Are  there  men  here  whom  you  can  trust,  or  are  they  all 
mule-folk  and  chatterers  ?" 

*'The  main  are  mule-folk,"  said  Constantine. 

*'  The  mule-folk  can  be  useful,"  remarked  Nicholas ; 
''but  the  man  who  travels  with  a  mule  to  show  the  way 
goes  a  short  Journey.  They  follow  where  they  are  led, 
but  some  one  has  to  lead.  But  is  there  not  a  priest  here 
— Father  Andrea,  I  think — with  a  trumpet  for  a  voice  ? 
I  should  like  to  see  him.  As  far  as  I  remember,  he  talked 
too  much,  yet  you  would  not  call  him  a  chatterer." 

"  He  curses  the  Turk  in  the  name  of  God  three  times 
a  day,"  said  Constantine.     "  It  is  a  vow." 

"  And  little  harm  will  the  Turk  suffer  from  that.  Bet- 
ter that  he  should  learn  to  bless  them,  or  best  to  keep  a 
still  tongue.  Well,  little  Mitsos,  is  the  bath  ready  ? 
You  will  excuse  me,  Constantine,  but  I  am  an  uneasy 
man  when  I  am  dirty.  Come  to  my  room  in  ten  minutes, 
Mitsos,  and  tell  me  of  yourself." 

''There  is  little  to  tell,"  said  Mitsos. 

"We  will  hope,  then,  that  it  is  all  good.     By  the  way. 


THE    VINEYARD 

Constantine,  I  have  brought  some  wine  with  me.  Mitsos 
will  drop  it  into  the  fountain,  for  it  must  be  tepid.  Tepid 
wine  saps  a  man's  self-respect,  and  if  a  man,  or  a  boy 
either,  doesn't  respect  himself,  Mitsos,  nobody  will  ever 
respect  him.'' 

Mitsos  followed  him  out  of  the  room  with  his  eyes, 
and  then  turned  to  his  father. 

"My  hands  are  so  dirty  from  that  vine-digging,"  he 
whispered.     "  Do  you  think  Uncle  Nicholas  saw  ?" 

"  He  sees  everything,"  said  his  father.  "  Wash,  then, 
before  you  go  up  to  his  room." 

Mitsos  adored  his  uncle  Nicholas  with  a  unique  devo- 
tion, for  Nicholas  was  a  finer  bake  of  man  than  any  he 
had  ever  seen.  He  had  been  to  foreign  countries,  a  feat 
only  attainable  by  sailing  for  weeks  in  big  ships.  He 
had  been  able  to  talk  to  some  French  sailors  who  had 
once  been  wrecked,  within  Mitsos'  memory,  on  the  coast 
near,  and  understand  what  they  said,  though  no  one  in 
the  place,  not  even  the  mayor,  could  do  that ;  indeed 
the  latter,  before  Nicholas  had  interpreted,  roundly  as- 
serted that  they  spoke  as  sparrows  speak.  Then  Uncle 
Nicholas  was  constantly  going  on  mysterious  journeys 
and  turning  up  again  when  he  was  least  expected,  but 
always  welcome  ;  and  he  had  a  wonderfully  low,  soft 
voice,  as  unlike  as  possible  to  the  discordant  throats  of 
the  country  folk  ;  and  he  had  long,  muscular  hands  and 
pink  nails.  Also  he  could  shoot  wild  pigeon  when  they 
were  flying,  whereas  the  utmost  that  the  mayor's  son, 
who  was  the  acknowledged  Nimrod  of  the  neighborhood, 
could  do,  was  to  shoot  them  if  they  were  walking  about. 
Even  then  he  could  only  hit  them  for  certain  if  there 
were  several  of  them  together  and  he  got  very  close. 
Also  Uncle  Nicholas  was  omniscient :  he  knew  the  names 
of  all  birds  and  plants  ;  he  could  imitate  a  horse's  neigh 

21 


THE    VINTAGE 

so  well  that  a  grazing  beast  wonld  leave  its  fodder  and 
come  to  his  voice ;  and  once  when  Mitsos  was  laid  up 
with  the  fever  he  had  picked  some  common  -  looking 
leaves  from  the  hedge  and  boiled  them  in  water,  and 
given  him  the  water  to  drink,  the  effect  of  which  was 
that  next  morning  he  awoke  quite  well.  Above  all, 
Nicholas  told  the  most  enchanting  stories  about  what 
he  had  seen  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

So  Mitsos  washed  his  hands  and  went  up  to  Nicholas's 
room,  finding  him  already  bathed  and  half  dressed.  His 
dusty  clothes  lay  on  the  floor,  and  he  pointed  to  them  as 
Mistos  came  in. 

"I  shall  be  here  four  days  at  the  least,"  he  said,  "and 
I  want  these  washed  before  I  go  away.  The  most  im- 
portant thing  in  the  world  is  to  be  clean,  Mitsos." 

"  Father  Andrea  says — "  began  the  boy. 

"  Well,  what  does  Father  Andrea  say  ?" 

"He  says  that  to  love  God  and  hate  the  devil  —  I 
think  he  means  the  Turk  —  is  the  most  important 
thing." 

"Well,  Father  Andrea  is  right.  But  you  must  re- 
member that  I  am  right  too.  Sit  you  in  the  window, 
Mitsos,  and  talk  to  me.  What  have  you  been  doing 
since  I  was  here  ?" 

"Looking  after  the  vines,"  said  Mitsos,  "since  the 
reaping  was  over.  And  I  go  fishing  very  often,  almost 
every  night." 

"  Then  to-morrow  we  will  go  together ;  to-night  I  have 
much  to  say  to  your  father." 

"  Will  you  really  come  with  me  ?"  asked  the  boy. 
"And  will  you  tell  me  some  more  stories  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  have  a  new  set  of  stories,  which  you  shall 
hear  —  I  want  to  know  what  you  will  think  of  them. 
How  old  are  you  ?" 

22 


THE    VINEYARD 

'^  Eighteen,  nineteen  in  November  ;  and  my  mnstache 
is  coming." 

Nicholas  turned  the  boy's  face  round  to  the  light. 

'^  Yes,  an  owner's  eye  might  detect  something.  Why 
do  you  want  a  mustache  ?" 

^'Because  men  have  mustaches." 

^'And  you  want  to  be  a  man,"  said  Nicholas;  ''but  a 
man  makes  his  mustache,  not  his  mustache  the  man. 
But  before  we  go  down  I  have  one  thing  to  say  to  you, 
a  thing  you  must  never  forget :  if  a  Turk  ever  asks 
you  if  you  know  aught  about  me,  where  I  am,  or  where 
I  may  be  going,  you  must  always  say  you  know  nothing. 
Say  you  have  not  set  eyes  on  me  for  more  than  a  year. 
Do  you  understand  ?  That  must  be  your  answer  and  no 
other." 

"I  understand,  just  that  I  have  not  seen  you  for  a 
year,  and  know  nothing  about  you." 

''Yes.  Whatever  happens,  do  you  think  you  can 
always  answer  that  and  no  more  ?  I  may  as  well  tell 
you  that  if  you  answer  more  than  that,  if,  when  you 
are  questioned — I  do  not  say  you  will  ever  be  questioned, 
but  you  may  be — you  tell  them  where  I  am,  or  whether  I 
am  expected  here,  or  anything  of  the  kind,  you  will  per- 
haps be  killing  me  as  surely  as  if  you  shot  me  this  mo- 
ment with  my  own  gun.     Do  you  promise  ?" 

"  Of  course,  I  promise,"  said  Mitsos,  with  crisp,  boyish 
petulance. 

"  And  should  they  threaten  to  kill  you  if  you  do  not 
tell  them  ?" 

"  Why  do  you  ask  me  ?"  he  said.  "I  have  made  the 
promise." 

Nicholas  laid  his  hand  on  the  boy's  shoulder,  and  with 
a  flashing  eye —  "And,  by  God,  I  believe  you  are  one  to 
keep  it !"  he  said. 


THE    VINTAGE 

The  sirocco  blew  itself  out  during  the  night,  and  a  light 
north  wind  had  taken  its  place  when  day  dawned.  A 
smell  extraordinarily  clean  was  in  the  air,  and  the  whole 
sky  was  brisk  with  the  sparkling  air  of  the  south.  North- 
wards from  Nauplia  the  sharp  mountainous  outlines  of 
the  Argive  hills  were  cut  out  clear  against  the  pale  cobalt 
of  the  heavens,  glowing  pink  in  the  sunrise,  and  all  their 
glens  and  hollows  were  brimmed  with  bluest  shadow.  To 
the  west,  a  furlong  away,  the  waters  of  the  bay  gleamed 
with  a  transparent,  aqueous  tint ;  you  would  have  said 
that  two  skies  had  been  melted  together  to  make  the 
sea.  Beyond,  the  hills  over  which  the  Turkish  road  to 
Tripoli  wound  like  a  climbing,  yellow  snake,  lay  still  in 
darkness.  The  lower  slopes  were  covered  with  pines ; 
above,  the  bare,  gray  stone  climbed  up,  shoulder  by 
shoulder,  to  meet  the  sky.  By  degrees,  as  the  sun  rose 
higher,  the  light  struck  first  the  tops,  and  flowed  caress- 
ingly down  from  peak  to  spur,  and  spur  to  slope,  till  it 
reached  the  lower  rounded  hills  at  the  base,  and  then 
flashed  across  the  bay  and  the  plain  of  Argos.  There 
it  caught  first  the  tawny  fortress  walls  of  the  citadel 
which  kept  guard  over  the  town,  then  the  town  itself 
which  clustered  round  its  base,  until  suddenly  from  Con- 
stantine's  house  the  sun  swung  over  the  rim  of  the  hills 
to  the  northeast,  and  the  whole  plain  leaped  from  shadow 
into  light. 

There  had  been  a  heavy  dew  during  the  night,  and  the 
close -reaped  cornfields  were  a  loom  of  gossamer  webs, 
hanging  pearly  and  iridescent  between  the  stubble-stalks, 
and  in  the  vineyards  the  upper  surface  of  the  broad, 
strong  leaves  was  wet  and  shining,  as  if  with  a  fresh 
coat  of  indescribable  green.  In  that  first  moment  of 
light  and  heat  all  the  odors  of  flowering  plants,  grafted 
on  the  wholesome  smell  of  moist  earth,  which  had  been 

34 


THE    VINEYARD 

hanging  as  if  asleep  close  to  the  ground  all  night,  rose 
and  dispersed  themselves  in  the  air.  A  breath  of  wind 
shook  the  web  of  sweet  smell  out  of  the  mimosa  trees 
that  grew  at  the  gate  of  Constantine's  garden,  and  sent 
it  spreading  and  shifting  like  the  gossamers  in  the  fields 
on  to  the  veranda,  and  in  at  the  open  windows.  The 
border  of  wild  thyme  by  the  porch  trembled  like  a  row 
of  fine  steel  springs  as  the  wind  passed  over  it,  and  gave 
out  its  offering  of  incense  to  the  morning.  A  sparrow  lit 
on  a  spray  of  rose  and  flew  off  again,  scattering  dew-drops 
and  petals.    The  world  smiled,  breathed  deep,  and  awoke. 

During  the  morning  Mitsos  was  chiefly  employed  in 
making  coffee,  for  many  of  the  leading  Greeks,  to  whom 
the  secret  of  the  imminent  uprising  was  known,  came 
from  Nauplia  to  see  Nicholas,  and  to  each  must  be 
offered  a  cup  of  Turkish  coffee.  Nicholas  sat  in  the 
veranda  with  his  narghile,  which  he  smoked  without  in- 
termission, and  he  appeared  to  be  giving  instructions  to 
his  visitors.  Among  the  first  to  come  was  Father 
Andrea,  whom  he  treated  with  great  respect.  When  he 
rose  to  go,  Nicholas  accompanied  him  as  far  as  the  back 
gate,  which  led  into  a  field  path  towards  his  house,  and 
Mitsos,  who  was  washing  cups  at  the  fountain  screened 
behind  bushes,  heard  them  go  by  talking. 

As  they  parted  he  heard  Nicholas  say,  "  Above  all,  be 
silent.  AVe  shall  want  you  to  talk  later,  and  to  talk  then 
with  the  full  voice.  At  present  a  word  overheard  might 
ruin  everything,  and  the  devil  himself  scarcely  knows 
when  he  is  being  overheard.  Even  now  Mitsos,  whom 
you  never  noticed,  but  whom  I  noticed,  knows  all  I  say 
to  you.  .  Mitsos,  come  here."' 

Mitsos  came,  cup  in  hand,  flushed  and  angry. 

'^  You  are  not  fair  to  me.  Uncle  Nicholas,"  he  said. 
"I  was  not  listening.     I  could  not  help  hearing." 

25 


THE    VINTAGE 

•  ''  No,  little  one,  I  am  not  blaming  you/'  said  Nicholas ; 
'^I  only  wanted  Father  Andrea  to  see.  That  is  an  in- 
stance to  hand,  father;  please  let  there  not  be  more. 
And  here  is  my  offering  to  the  Christ  and  to  my  patron 
saint  for  having  brought  me  here  safely. ^^ 

Nicholas  was  punctual  to  his  promise  to  Mitsos,  and 
soon  after  sunset  they  went  off  together  to  where  the 
boat  was  lying.  Mitsos  carried  a  couple  of  big  pewter 
ladles,  a  bag  full  of  resin,  a  wicker  creel  for  the  fish, 
and  two  spears,  while  Nicholas  walked  on  a  little  ahead 
with  the  net  wound  round  his  shoulders.  They  were 
to  begin  the  evening's  work  with  the  spears,  and  later 
when  the  moon  was  up  to  sail  across  the  far  side  of  the 
bay,  where  they  would  use  the  sweep-net  in  the  shallow 
water,  where  the  bottom  was  sandy  and  shelving.  But 
the  nearer  shore  of  the  bay  was  rocky,  descending  rapidly 
into  deep  water,  and  was  no  place  for  netting.  Nicholas, 
however,  got  into  the  boat  in  order  to  arrange  the  net 
and  dispose  the  lead  in  what  he  considered  a  more  satis- 
factory manner,  leaving  the  boy  to  do  the  spearing  alone. 

Mitsos  took  off  his  linen  trousers,  fastening  his  shirt 
round  his  waist  with  a  leather  belt.  He  then  slung  the 
creel  and  the  bag  round  his  neck,  and  putting  a  half 
handful  of  resin  into  the  ladle,  set  light  to  it,  took  the 
spear  in  his  right  hand,  and  rolling  up  his  sleeves  to  the 
shoulder,  stepped  into  the  sea.  He  held  the  flare  close 
to  the  surface,  so  that  its  light  showed  clearly  on  the  bot- 
tom of  the  shallow  water,  a  luminous  lure  for  the  fish. 
The  spear  he  held  ready  to  bring  down  if  he  saw  anything. 

It  was  a  scene  which  Rembrandt  would  have  painted 
with  the  hand  of  love.  The  moon  was  not  yet  risen,  but 
in  the  clear  starlight  the  edges  of  the  serrated  hills  were 
sharply  etched  against  the  sky,  and  the  water  of  the  bay, 
just  curdled  by  the  wind,  lay  vast  and  sombre  across  to 

26 


THE    VINEYARD 

the  farther  shore.  The  light  from  the  resin-flare  vaguely 
showed  the  lines  of  the  boat  in  which  Nicholas  was  pre- 
paring the  net,  but  all  was  dim  except  Mitsos'  figure 
and  a  few  feet  of  glittering,  flame-scribbled,  water  round 
him.  The  highest  light  was  cast  on  his  brown  down- 
bent  face  and  on  his  left  arm  bared  to  the  shoulder, 
which  stood  out  as  clear-cut  as  a  cameo  against  the  dark- 
ness behind,  and  as  he  moved,  the  Avater,  which  lapped 
about  his  knees,  was  stirred  into  fire -crested  ripples. 
The  sea  was  slightly  phosphorescent,  and  his  trail  was 
palely  luminous  like  the  Milky  Way.  Now  and  again, 
with  a  sudden  splendid  motion,  down  went  the  poised 
spear  with  a  splashing  cluck  into  the  sea,  and  he  would 
draw  it  up  again,  sometimes  with  a  red  mullet,  some- 
times with  a  thin  brill  flapping  and  struggling  on  the 
point.  More  rarely  he  missed  his  aim,  and  looked  up 
at  Nicholas  smiling  and  showing  his  white  teeth. 

At  the  end  of  half  an  hour  the  latter  had  finished  his 
fresh  leading  of  the  net,  and  as  a  stiffer  breeze  had 
awoke,  ruffling  the  surface  of  the  water  and  making  it 
difficult  to  see  the  fish  distinctly,  they  started  to  sail 
across  the  bay.  Mitsos  waded  out  to  the  boat,  trousers 
and  shoes  in  hand,  set  the  big  brown  sail,  and  giving  a 
vigorous  shove  or  two  with  the  oar  sent  the  boat  round 
so  that  it  caught  the  wind.  In  a  moment  it  heeled  over 
without  stirring,  and  then  the  whisper  of  its  moving 
came  sibilantly  from  the  forefoot,  and  gathering  speed 
it  glided  on  across  the  dark  water. 

Nicholas  had  taken  the  rudder,  and  Mitsos  sat  down 
beside  him. 

^' Eight  mullet  and  a  dozen  other  fish,'^  he  said. 
"  That  is  no  bad  catch  for  half  an  hour.  Put  her  head 
for  under  that  point.  Uncle  Nicholas.  Do  you  see  it  ? 
There  is  a  house  with  a  light  burning  a  little  above  it." 

27 


THE    VINTAGE 

''  I  see.  It  will  take  nearly  an  hour  with  this  wind. 
Well,  what  is  it  ?" 

''  Will  you  tell  me  some  of  the  new  stories.  Uncle 
Nicholas  r 

"  No,  we  will  keep  the  stories  for  when  we  go  home. 
It  will  take  us  twice  as  long  to  get  back  against  this 
wind.     They  are  long  stories." 

For  nearly  an  hour  they  sailed  on  in  comparative  si- 
lence ;  the  wind  had  freshened,  and  from  over  the  hills 
towards  Tripoli  there  came  blinking  flashes  of  summer 
lightning.  The  lamp  in  the  house  above  the  point  to 
which  they  were  steering  had  been  put  out,  but  in  the 
half-darkness  of  the  summer  night  the  promontory  itself 
was  clearly  visible.  Towards  the  east  the  hills  were 
blocked  out  with  a  strange  intensity  of  blackness,  for 
the  moon  was  on  the  point  of  rising  behind  them,  and 
the  deep  velvet  blue  of  the  zenith  had  turned  to  dove- 
color. 

^'  Now  for  our  fishing,  Mitsos,"  said  Nicholas,  as  they 
drew  near  to  the  shore.  '^Can  we  run  the  boat  in  behind 
the  promontory  ?" 

*^Yes,  there  is  four  feet  of  water  right  up  to  the 
land.  Just  there  the  shore  is  steep.  I  will  take  in  the 
sail." 

"  There  is  no  need.  As  soon  as  we  pass  the  corner  it 
will  be  dead  calm." 

Nicholas  put  the  helm  hard  to  port  as  soon  as  they 
were  opposite  the  little  point ;  next  moment  the  sail 
flapped  like  a  wounded  bird  against  the  mast,  and  they 
ran  up  to  the  rocks.  Mitsos  jumped  out  and  tied  the 
boat  up. 

They  lifted  the  net  on  shore,  and  made  their  way  round 
the  wooded  headland  to  the  little  bays  which  they  were 
to  fish.     Here  the  shore  was  sandy  and  shelving,  and 

28 


THE    VINEYARD 

sprinkled  with  dumps  of  succulent  seaweed  which  grew 
up  from  the  rocks  below,  a  favorite  feeding  ground,  as 
Mitsos  knew,  for  mullet  and  sole.  Nicholas  had  put  on 
Constantine's  long  fishing-boots,  reaching  up  to  his  hips, 
before  he  left  the  boat,  Mitsos,  as  before,  merely  taking 
off  his  shoes  and  trousers. 

The  net  was  some  twenty-five  yards  long,  and  Mitsos, 
taking  one  end  into  his  hand,  stepped  into  the  water  at 
right  angles  to  the  shore.  He  waded  out  till  the  net 
was  taut  between  them,  and  then  Nicholas  followed. 
As  soon  as  the  latter  was  some  ten  yards  from  land  they 
both  moved  shorewards  up  the  little  bay,  which  lay  in 
front  of  them,  getting  gradually  nearer  to  each  other  as 
they  approached  the  beach,  till  when  they  were  within 
five  or  six  yards  of  the  land  they  were  walking  together, 
the  net  trailing  in  a  great  bagging  oval  behind  them. 
The  resistance  of  the  water,  the  dragging  of  the  lead 
along  the  bottom,  and,  it  was  to  be  hoped,  the  spoils  en- 
closed made  no  small  weight,  and  it  was  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  or  so  before  they  got  it  in.  The  moon  had  risen, 
and  it  was  easy  to  see  the  silvery  glitter  of  the  fish  as 
they  lay  fluttering  in  the  dark  meshes  of  the  net.  The 
flat,  brown  soles,  however,  required  a  more  careful  search, 
and  the  sound  of  their  flapping,  rather  than  the  eye,  led 
to  their  discovery. 

They  fished  for  an  hour  or  two  with  only  moderate 
success,  until  Mitsos  proposed  they  should  try  a  little 
farther  down  the  coast,  where  shoals  of  a  certain  fish,  as 
small  as  the  whitebait,  and  as  sweet,  grazed  the  watery 
pastures.  Here  the  depth  was  somewhat  greater,  and 
before  going  in  Mitsos  divested  himself  of  his  shirt, 
leaving  it  on  the  rocks,  and  went  in  completely  naked. 
Nicholas,  who  had  put  himself  entirely  under  his  direc- 
tions, waited  in  the  shallower  water  near  the  shore  till 

29 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  boy  had  waded  out  to  where  the  water  covered  him 
to  the  waist ;  then,  as  before,  they  moved  in  converging 
lines  towards  the  shore. 

They  had  approached  to  within  about  twenty  yards  of 
the  beach,  and  within  about  five  yards  of  each  other,  when 
Mitsos  stopped  and  pointed  back.  The  upper  edge  of 
the  net,  fitted  at  intervals  with  corks  to  keep  it  floating, 
was  visible  on  the  bright  surface  of  the  sea,  trailing  in 
an  irregular  oval.  But  inside  this  oval  the  moonlit  water 
was  strangely  agitated  and  unquiet,  quivering  like  a 
jarred  metal-plate,  and  from  moment  to  moment  a  little 
silvery  speck  would  glitter  on  it. 

"  Look,"  he  said  to  Nicholas,  ^'  the  little  fish  are  there. 
We  must  be  as  quick  as  we  can.  Sometimes  if  the  shoal 
begins  jumping  they  will  all  jump  out." 

And  bending  forward  to  get  his  whole  weight  into  the 
work,  he  pushed  forward  towards  the  land. 

The  moonlight  fell  full  on  his  body,  dripping  and 
glistening  from  the  waist  downwards  with  the  salt  water, 
and  threw  the  straining  muscles  which  line  the  spine, 
and  those  chords  behind  the  shoulder  -  blade  which 
painters  love,  into  strong  light  and  shadow,  as  he  pulled 
against  the  weight  of  the  dragging  net.  Already  the 
water  came  only  to  his  knees,  and  the  catch  was  immi- 
nent, when  suddenly  from  the  net  there  came  a  rustle  and 
a  splash  like  myriad  little  pebbles  being  thrown  into  the 
sea,  and  he  turned  round  just  in  time  to  see  the  whole 
shoal,  which  glistened  like  a  silver  sheet,  rise  and  drop 
into  the  water  outside. 

*'The  little  Turks,"  he  said,  angrily,  ''they  are  all 
gone." 

"  Better  to  pull  the  net  in  and  look,"  said  Nicholas  ; 
''  a  part  only  may  have  leaped." 

Mitsos  shook  his  head. 

30 


THE    VINEYARD 

'^When  they  go  like  that  it  is  all  of  them,"  he  said. 

Mitsos  was  quite  right.  There  was  a  stray  fish  or  two 
still  in  the  net,  but  so  few  that  they  were  hardly  worth 
picking  out. 

"  That  will  do  for  to-night,  won't  it  ?"  he  said.  ''  We 
have  fished  all  the  best  places.'' 

Nicholas  assenting,  he  lay  down  and  rolled  over  in  the 
warm,  dry  sand  once  or  twice,  and  then  standing  up 
brushed  the  wet  stuff  off  his  body.  Then  spreading  the 
net  out  on  the  rocks  higher  up  on  the  beach,  Mitsos 
went  off  to  fetch  his  shirt.  Nicholas  employed  himself 
in  picking  up  a  few  stray  fish,  and  put  them  into  the 
creel.  Then  rolling  up  the  net  they  walked  back  to  the 
boat. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   STORY   OF   A   BRIGAiTD 

The  wind,  whicli  had  taken  them  straight  across  the 
bay,  still  blew  freshening  from  the  same  quarter,  and 
was  dead  against  them.  They  would  have  to  make  two 
long  tacks  to  get  home — the  first,  right  across  to  the 
island  in  the  middle  of  the  bay ;  the  second,  back  again 
to  the  head  of  it ;  and  as  soon  as  they  were  well  off  on 
the  outward  tack,  Mitsos  went  to  the  stern  of  the  boat 
and  sat  down  by  Nicholas. 

"It  is  time  for  the  stories,  is  it  not  ?"  he  said. 

'^  Yes,  we  will  have  the  stories  now." 

Nicholas  paused  a  moment. 

"  Mitsos,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  a 
part  of  my  life  of  which  I  have  never  spoken  to  you 
before,  for,  until  now,  I  have  only  told  you  boys'  stories 
to  amuse  a  boy.  But  now  I  am  going  to  tell  you  a  story 
for  a  man.  This  all  happened  before  you  were  born, 
twenty  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  brigand." 

Mitsos  stared. 

"  A  brigand,  Uncle  Nicholas  ?     You  ?" 

''Brigand,  outlaw,  klepht,  whatever  you  like  to  call 
it.  A  man  with  a  price  set  on  his  head — it  is  there  now 
for  you  to  take  if  you  like — a  man  without  any  home 
but  the  mountains.  Yet  one  may  do  worse  than  live  in 
the  mountains,  Mitsos,  and  drink  to  the  *^good  bullet,' 
praying  one  might  be  killed  rather  than  fall  alive  into 

32 


THE    VINEYAED 

the  hands  of  the  Turk.  The  first  part  of  my  story  is 
like  many  other  stories  I  have  told  you  before  ;  it  is  the 
second  part,  when  I  tell  you  why  I  was  a  brigand,  that 
will  be  new  to  you — a  story,  as  I  have  said,  not  for  a  boy, 
but  for  a  man. 

*^  I  used  to  live  then  at  Dimitzana,  in  Arcadia,  and  I 
became  a  brigand  on  the  night  that  my  wife  died.  Why 
and  how  that  happened  comes  later.  Well,  there  I  was 
living  in  the  mountains  round  Arcadia,  sheltering  and 
hiding  for  the  most  part  of  the  day  in  the  woods,  but 
keeping  near  some  mountain  path,  so  that  if  a  Turk  or 
two  or  three  came  by  I  could — how  shall  I  say  it  ? — do 
business  with  them.  For  a  month  or  two  I  was  a-hunt- 
ing  alone,  and  then  I  was  joined  by  other  men  from 
Dimitzana,  who  also  had  become  outlaws.  With  them 
I  went  hunting  on  rather  a  larger  scale — we  used  to  take 
Turks  and  get  ransoms  for  them.  But  never  did  we  take 
or  molest  a  Greek  or  lay  hands  on  any  woman,  Greek  or 
Turk.  For  the  most  part  we  were  very  fortunate,  and 
all  the  time  we  lost  but  few  men,  and  of  those  the 
heads  of  none  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  for  if 
one  was  wounded  beyond  healing  we  all  went  and  kissed 
him  and  said  good-bye ;  and  then  one  cut  his  head  off 
and  buried  it,  so  that  the  Turks  should  not  dishonor 
him." 

Nicholas  paused  a  moment,  and  then  laughed  gently 
to  himself. 

''Never  in  my  life  shall  I  forget  when  we  took  Mo- 
hammed Bey — a  fat-belly  man,  Mitsos,  and  a  devil,  with 
a  paunch  for  two  men  and  a  woman^s  skin.  To  see  him 
tied  on  his  mule,  crying  out  to  Allah  and  Mohammed  to 
rescue  him  and  his  dinner  from  the  infidels,  as  if  Mo- 
hammed had  nothing  better  to  do  than  look  after  such 
swine  !  I  told  him  that  he  would  only  spend  a  day  or 
c  33 


THE    VINTAGE 

two  with  us  in  the  mountains  until  his  friends  ransomed 
him,  adding  that  we  would  do  our  best  to  make  him 
comfortable.  But  he  wept  tears  of  pure  oil  and  said 
that  Mohammed  would  avenge  him,  which,  as  yet,  the 
Prophet  has  omitted  to  do.  But  there  is  one  drawback 
to  that  sort  of  life,  little  Mitsos — one  cannot  keep  clean. 
Sometimes,  if  one  is  travelling  or  being  pursued,  one  has 
to  go  a  whole  day,  or  more,  without  water  to  drink, 
much  less  to  wash  in.  Once,  I  remember,  we  had  been 
all  day  without  water,  and  could  not  find  any  when  we 
stopped  for  the  night ;  but  there  was  a  heavy  dew,  and, 
though  it  was  a  cold  night,  we  all  sat  without  our  shirts 
for  an  hour,  laying  them  on  the  ground  until  they  were 
wet  with  dew,  and  then  wrung  them  out  into  our  mouths. 
Ah,  horrible  !  horrible  !" 

Nicholas  spat  over  the  side  of  the  boat  at  the  thought, 
and  then  went  on. 

''For  the  most  part  we  lived  up  in  the  mountains  to 
the  north  of  Arcadia,  but  somehow  or  other  when  sum- 
mer came  we  all  began  to  head  southward  again.  We 
never  spoke  to  each  other  of  where  we  were  going,  for 
we  all  knew.  And  one  evening,  just  before  sunset,  we 
were  on  the  brow  of  a  big  wooded  hill  above  Dimitzana 
and  looked  at  our  homes  again.  Homesickness  and  want 
of  water  —  these  were  the  two  things  which  made  me 
suffer,  and  I  would  drink  the  wringings  of  a  shirt  sooner 
than  be  sick  for  home. 

*' All  next  day  we  stopped  there,  sitting  on  that  spur 
of  wooded  hill  looking  at  home  as  if  our  eyes  would  start 
from  our  heads.  Now  one  of  us  and  then  another 
would  roll  over,  burying  his  face  in  his  hands,  and 
the  rest  of  us  would  pretend  not  to  notice.  I  cannot  say 
for  certain  what  the  others  did  when  they  buried  their 
faces  like  that ;  for  myself  I  can  only  say  that  I  sobbed — 

84 


THE    VINEYARD 

for  some  had  wives  there,  and  some  children.  And  it 
hurts  a  man  to  sob  unless  he  is  a  Turk,  for  Turks  sob  if 
the  coffee  is  not  to  their  taste. 

"That  evening  I  could  not  bear  it  any  longer,  and  I 
said  to  the  others,  *  I  must  go  down  and  see  my  house 
again.^  They  tried  to  stop  me,  for  it  is  a  foolish  thing 
for  an  outlaw  to  go  home  when  there  is  a  price  on  his 
head  ;  but  I  would  not  listen  to  them. 

"And  I  went  down  to  the  village  and  walked  up  the 
street,  past  the  fountain  and  past  the  church.  I  met 
many  Greeks  whom  I  knew,  but  I  made  signs  to  them 
that  they  should  not  recognize  me.  Luckily  for  me  the 
garrison  of  Turks  had  been  changed,  and  though  I  passed 
several  soldiers  in  the  street,  they  stared  at  me,  being  a 
stranger,  but  did  not  know  who  I  was. 

"Then  I  went  up  past  the  big  plane-tree  and  saw  my 
house.  The  windows  were  all  broken  and  the  door  was 
down,  for  that,  too,  had  the  Turks  done  in  their  mali- 
cious anger  at  not  finding  me  there.  And  on  the  door- 
step my  father  was  sitting.  He  was  very  old,  eighty  or 
near  it,  and  he  was  playing  with  a  doll  that  had  belonged 
to  my  daughter." 

Nicholas  paused  a  moment. 

"  Mitsos,"  he  went  on,  "you  do  not  know  what  it  is  to 
feel  keen,  passionate  joy  and  sorrow  mixed  together  like 
that,  ludicrously.  It  is  not  right  that  a  man  should  have 
to  bear  such  a  thing,  for  when  I  saw  my  father  sitting 
there  nursing  the  doll  I  could  not  have  contained  my- 
self, not  if  ten  companies  of  angels  had  been  withstand- 
ing me  or  twenty  of  devils  ;  and  I  ran  up  to  him  and  sat 
down  by  him,  and  kissed  him,  and  said,  '  Father,  don't 
you  know  me  V  But  he  did  not  say  anything.  He  only 
looked  at  me  in  a  puzzled  sort  of  way,  and  went  on  nurs- 
ing his  doll. 

85 


THE    VINTAGE 

"It  is  odd  that  one  remembers  these  little  things,  but 
the  stupid  face  of  the  doll,  somehow,  I  remember  better 
than  I  remember  the  face  of  my  father. 

"  I  stopped  in  the  village  for  an  hour,  perhaps  more, 
and  I  swore  an  oath  Avhich  I  have  never  yet  forgotten  and 
which  I  will  never  forget.  In  the  church  we  have  a  shrine 
to  the  blessed  Jesus  and  another  to  His  mother,  and  one 
to  St.  George,  and  to  each  of  them  I  lit  tapers  and  prayed 
to  them  that  they  would  help  me  to  accomplish  my  oath. 
They  have  helped  me  and  they  will  help  me,  and  you, 
Mitsos,  can  help  me,  too.'" 

The  boy  looked  up. 

"  What  was  your  oath,  Uncle  Nicholas,"  he  said,  "  and 
how  can  1  help  you  ?" 

He  laid  his  hand  on  Nicholas's  knee,  and  Nicholas  felt 
it  trembling.     The  story  was  going  home. 

"  I  wdll  tell  you,"  he  said  ;  "  but,  first,  I  must  tell  you 
how  it  was  I  became  an  outlaw.     This  was  the  way  of  it : 

"You  never  knew  my  wife ;  she  died  before  you  were 
born.  She  was  the  most  beautiful  and  the  best-loved  of 
women.  That  you  will  not  understand.  You  do  not 
know  yet  what  a  woman  is  to  a  man,  and  your  cousin 
Helen,  to  whom  the  doll  belonged,  would  have  been  as 
beautiful  as  her  mother.  A  fortnight  before  I  became 
an  outlaw  there  came  a  new  officer  to  command  the  gar- 
rison at  Dimitzana.  He  was  a  pleasant-seeming  man, 
and  to  me,  being  the  mayor  of  the  village,  he  paid  much 
attention.  He  would  sit  with  us  all  in  the  garden  after 
dinner.  Sometimes  I  asked  him  to  take  his  dinner  with 
us ;  sometimes  he  asked  me  to  dine  with  him.  But 
Catharine  always  disliked  him ;  often  she  was  barely 
civil  to  him.  He  had  been  in  the  place  nearly  a  fort- 
night when  I  had  to  go  away  for  a  night,  or  perhaps 
two,  to  Andritsaena  for  the  election  of  the  mayor,  for 

36 


THE    VINEYARD 

I  had  some  little  property  there,  and  therefore  a  vote 
in  the  matter.  I  left  about  midday,  but  I  had  not 
gone  more  than  four  hours  from  the  town  when  I  met 
a  man  from  Andritsaena,  who  told  me  that  the  election 
would  be  an  affair  of  form  only,  as  one  of  the  two  candi- 
dates had  resigned.  So  I  turned  my  horse  round  and 
went  home. 

^'  It  was  dark  before  I  got  to  the  village,  and  I  noticed 
that  there  was  no  light  in  my  house.  However,  I  sup- 
posed that  Catharine  was  spending  the  evening  with 
some  friend,  and  I  suspected  nothing.  But  it  got  later 
and  ever  later  and  she  did  not  come,  so  at  last  I  went 
out  and  called  at  all  the  houses  where  she  Avas  like- 
ly to  be.  She  was  not  at  any  of  them,  and  no  one  had 
seen  her.  Then  unwillingly,  and  with  a  heart  grown 
somehow  suddenly  cold,  I  determined  to  go  to  the  of- 
ficer's quarters  and  ask  if  he  had  seen  her.  There  was  a 
light  burning  in  one  of  the  upper  windows,  but  the  door 
was  locked. 

"  It  was  when  I  found  that  the  door  was  locked  that  I 
drew  my  pistol  from  my  belt  and  loaded  it,  and  then  I 
waited  a  moment.  In  that  moment  I  heard  the  sound  of 
a  woman  sobbing  and  crying  from  inside  the  house,  and 
the  next  minute  I  had  burst  the  door  open.  The  room 
inside  was  dark,  but  a  staircase  led  up  from  it  through 
the  floor  of  the  room  above,  and  I  made  two  jumps  of  it. 
Helen  —  she  was  only  seven  years  old  —  ran  across  the 
room,  perhaps  knowing  my  step,  crying  ^  Father,  father  V 
and  as  my  head  appeared  the  officer  fired.  He  missed 
me,  and  shot  Helen  dead. 

'^  Before  he  could  fire  again  I  fired  at  him.  He  fell 
with  a  rattling,  broken  sound  across  the  floor,  and  never 
spoke  nor  moved.  Catharine  was  there,  and  she  came 
slowly  across  the  room  to  me. 

37 


THE    VINTAGE 

'^  *Ah,  you  have  come/  she  said  ;  'you  are  too  late/ 

"  I  sat  down  on  the  bed,  and  my  throat  was  as  dry  as 
a  sirocco  wind,  and  laid  the  double-barrelled  pistol,  still 
smoking,  by  me.  Neither  of  us,  I  am  sure,  gave  one 
thought  to  the  man  who  was  lying  there,  perhaps  hardly 
to  Helen,  for  dishonor  is  worse  than  death  ;  and  for  me 
I  could  say  no  word,  but  sat  there  like  a  thing  broken. 

'^ '  You  are  too  late,^  she  repeated ;  'and  for  me  this  is 
the  only  way.' 

''And  before  I  could  stop  her  she  had  taken  up  the 
pistol  and  shot  herself  through  the  head. 

"  The  shots  had  aroused  the  soldiers,  and  two  or  three 
burst  in  up  the  stairs.  With  the  officer's  pistol,  for  I 
had  no  time  to  reload  mine,  I  killed  the  first,  and  he 
went  bumping  down  the  stairs,  knocking  one  man  over. 
Then  I  opened  the  window  and  dropped.  It  was  not 
more  than  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  and  I  had  only  a 
few  feet  to  fall." 

He  paused  a  moment  and  stood  up,  letting  go  of  the 
rudder  and  raising  his  hands. 

"God,  to  whom  vengeance  belongs,"  he  cried,  "and 
blessed  Mother  of  Jesus,  and  holy  Nicholas,  my  patron, 
help  me  to  keep  my  vow." 

He  stood  there  for  a  moment  in  silence. 

"And  my  vow — "  he  said  to  Mitsos. 

"Your  vow — your  vow!"  cried  Mitsos.  "The  foul 
devils — your  vow  is  to  root  out  the  Turk,  and  to-mor- 
row I,  too,  will  light  tapers  to  the  holy  saints  and  make 
the  vow  you  made.  Christ  Jesus,  the  devils  !  And  you 
must  show  me  how  to  keep  it." 

"Amen  to  that,"  said  Nicholas.  "Enough  for  to- 
night, we  will  speak  of  it  no  more." 

He  sat  down  again  and  took  the  rudder,  and  for  five 
minutes  or  so  there  was  silence,  broken  only  by  the  steady 

38 


THE    VINEYARD 

hiss  of  the  water  round  the  boat,  and  then  Mitsos,  still 
in  silence  and  trembling  with  a  strange  excitement,  put 
about  on  the  second  tack.  Nicholas  did  not  speak,  but 
sat  with  wide  eyes  staring  into  the  darkness,  seemingly 
unconscious  of  the  boy. 

This  second  tack  brought  them  up  close  under  the 
sea-wall  of  Abdul  Achmet,  and  the  white  house  gleamed 
brightly  in  the  moonlight.  Then,  as  Mitsos  was  putting 
about  again  on  the  tack  which  would  take  them  home, 
Nicholas  looked  up  at  it  and  spoke  for  the  first  time. 

"  That  is  a  new  house,  is  it  not  ?'*  he  said. 

"  Yes,  it  is  the  house  of  that  pig  Achmet,"  said  Mitsos. 

'*  Why  is  he  a  pig  above  all  other  Turks  ?" 

"  Because  he  took  our  vineyard  away  and  said  he  would 
pay  a  fair  price  for  it.  Not  a  piastre  has  he  paid.  Look, 
there  are  a  couple  of  women  on  the  terrace." 

Two  women  of  the  house  were  leaning  over  the  wall. 
Just  as  they  went  about  Nicholas  saw  a  man,  probably 
one  of  the  eunuchs,  come  up  out  of  the  shadow,  and  as 
he  got  up  to  them  he  struck  the  nearer  one  on  the  face. 
The  woman  cried  out  and  said  to  him,  "What  is  that 
for  ?" 

Nicholas  started  and  looked  eagerly  towards  them. 

"Did  you  hear,  Mitsos?"  he  said,  "she  spoke  in 
Greek." 

"  One  of  those  women?"  said  Mitsos.   "And  why  not  ?" 

"  How  do  you  suppose  she  knows  Greek  ?" 

"Yes,  it  is  strange.  We  shall  not  get  home  in  this 
tack." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   MIDNIGHT   ORDEAL 

For  the  next  two  days  Nicholas  devoted  himself  to 
the  education  of  Mitsos.  He  took  the  boy  out  shooting 
with  him  and  taught  him  how  to  stand  as  still  as  a  rock 
or  a  tree,  how  to  take  advantage  of  the  slightest  cover  in 
approaching  game,  and  how,  if  there  was  no  cover,  to 
wriggle  snake-wise  along  the  ground  so  that  the  coarse 
tall  grass  and  heather  concealed  him.  There  were  plenty 
of  mountain  hares  and  roe-deer  on  the  hills  outside  Nau- 
plia  towards  Epidaurus,  and  they  had  two  days'  excellent 
shooting. 

They  were  walking  home  together  after  sunset  on  the 
second  day,  and  slung  over  the  pony's  back  were  two 
roe-deer,  one  of  which  Mitsos  had  shot  himself,  and  sev- 
eral hares  which  Nicholas,  with  a  skill  that  appeared  al- 
most superhuman  to  the  boy,  had  killed  running.  The 
pony  was  tired  and  hung  back  on  tlie  bridle,  and  Mitsos, 
with  the  rope  over  his  shoulder,  was  pulling  more  than 
leading  it. 

*^And  if,"  Nicholas  was  saying  to  him,  **if  you  can 
approach  a  roe-deer  as  you  approached  that  one  to-day, 
Mitsos,  without  being  seen,  you  can  also  approach  a  man 
in  the  same  way,  for  in  things  like  these  the  most  stupid 
of  beasts  is  man.  And  it  is  very  important  when  you 
are  hunting  man,  or  being  hunted  by  him,  which  is  quite 
as  exciting  and  much  less  pleasant,  that  you  should  be 

40 


THE    VINEYAED 

able  to  approach  him,  or  pass  by  him  unseen.  After  two 
days  I  shall  be  going  away,  but  I  shall  leave  this  gun 
behind  for  you." 

"  For  me.  Uncle  Nicholas  ?"  said  Mitsos,  scarcely  be- 
lieving his  ears. 

'*Yes,  but  it  shall  be  no  toy-thing  to  you.  For  the 
present  you  must  go  out  every  day  shooting,  but  you 
must  take  the  sport  as  a  matter  concerning  your  life  or 
death,  instead  of  the  life  and  death  of  a  piece  of  meat. 
Stalk  every  roe  as  if  it  were  a  man  whose  purpose  is  to 
kill  you,  and  if  ever  it  sees  you  before  you  get  a  shot  you 
must  cry  shame  on  yourself  for  having  wasted  your  time 
and  my  gift  to  you.  But  go  fishing,  too,  and  treat  that 
seriously.  Do  not  go  mooning  in  the  boat  just  to  amuse 
yourself,  or  only  for  the  catching  of  fish.  Before  you 
start  settle  how  you  are  to  make  your  course,  in  two 
tacks  it  may  be,  or  three,  and  do  so.  Practise  taking 
advantage  of  a  wind  which  blows  no  stronger  than  a  man 
whistling." 

"  I  can  sail  a  boat  against  any  one  in  Nauplia,"  said 
Mitsos,  proudly. 

^' And  Nauplia  is  a  very  small  place,  little  Mitsos.  For 
instance,  we  ought  to  have  got  back  from  our  fishing  in 
two  tacks,  not  three.  And  study  the  winds — know  what 
wind  to  expect  in  the  morning,  and  know  exactly  when 
the  land  breeze  springs  up.  Go  outside  the  harbor,  too; 
know  the  shapes  of  the  capes  and  inlets  of  the  gulf  out- 
side as  you  know  the  shape  of  your  own  hand." 

^'  But  how  can  I  shoot  and  fish,  and  also  look  after  the 
vines  and  get  work  in  other  vineyards  in  the  autumn  ?" 

"That  will  be  otherwise  seen  to.  Obey  your  father 
absolutely.  I  have  spoken  to  him.  Also,  you  stop  at 
home  too  much  in  the  evenings.  Go  and  sit  at  tho  cafes 
in  the  town  and  play  cards  and  draughts  after  dinner, 

41 


THE    VINTAGE 

yet  not  only  for  the  sake  of  playing.  Keep  your  ears 
always  open,  and  remember  all  you  hear  said  about  these 
Turks.  When  I  come  back  you  must  be  able  to  tell  me, 
if  I  ask  you,  who  are  good  Greeks,  who  would  risk  some- 
thing for  the  sake  of  their  wives  and  children,  and  who 
are  the  mules,  who  care  for  nothing  but  to  drink  their 
sour  wine  and  live  pig-lives.  Above  all,  remember  that 
you  haven't  seen  me  for  a  year — for  two,  if  you  like." 

Mitsos  laughed. 

"  Let  it  not  be  a  year  before  you  come  again,  uncle." 

"It  may  be  more;  I  cannot  tell.  You  are  full  young, 
but — but — well,  we  shall  *see  when  I  come  back.  Here 
we  are  on  the  plain  again.  Give  me  that  lazy  brute's 
bridle.     Are  you  tired,  little  one  ?'' 

''Hungry,  chiefly." 

"And  I  also.  But,  luckily,  it  is  a  small  thing  whether 
one  is  hungry  or  not.  You  will  learn  some  day  what  it  is 
to  be  dead  beat — so  hungry  that  you  cannot  eat,  so  tired 
that  you  cannot  sleep.  And  when  that  day  comes,  for 
come  it  will,  God  send  you  a  friend  to  be  by  your  side,  or 
at  least  a  drain  of  brandy  ;  but  never  drink  brandy  unless 
you  feel  you  will  be  better  for  it.  Well,  that  is  counsel 
enough  for  now.  If  you  remember  it  all,  and  act  by  it, 
it  will  be  a  fine  man  we  shall  make  of  the  little  one." 

Nicholas  went  to  see  the  mayor  of  Nauplia  the  next 
day,  and  told  Mitsos  he  had  to  put  on  his  best  clothes 
and  come  with  him.  His  best  clothes  were,  of  course, 
Albanian,  consisting  of  a  frilled  shirt,  an  embroidered 
jacket,  fustanella,  gaiters,  and  red  shoes  with  tassels. 
To  say  that  he  abhorred  best  clothes  as  coverings  for  the 
skin  would  be  a  weak  way  of  stating  the  twitching  dis- 
comfort they  produced  in  him;  but  somehow,  when 
Nicholas  was  there,  it  seemed  to  him  natural  to  wish 
to  look  smart,  and  he  found  himself  regretting  that  his 

42 


THE    VINEYARD 

fustanella  had  not  been  very  freshly  washed,  and  that  it 
was  getting  ingloriously  short  for  his  long  legs. 

The  mayor  received  Nicholas  with  great  respect,  and 
ordered  his  wife  to  bring  in  coffee  and  spirits  for  them. 
He  looked  at  Mitsos  with  interest  as  he  came  in,  and,  as 
Mitsos  thought,  nodded  to  Nicholas  as  if  there  was  some 
understanding  between  them. 

When  coffee  had  come  and  the  woman  had  left  the 
room,  Nicholas  drew  his  chair  up  closer,  and  beckoned 
Mitsos  to  come  to  him. 

''  This  is  the  young  wolf,"  he  said.  *'  He  is  learning 
to  prowl  for  himself."  • 

'^  So  that  he  may  prowl  for  others  ?'*  said  Demetri. 

"  Exactly.  Now,  friend,  I  go  to-morrow,  and  while  I 
am  away  I  want  you  to  be  as  quiet  as  a  hunting  cat.  I 
have  done  all  I  wanted  to  do  here,  and  it  is  for  you  to 
keep  very  quiet  till  we  are  ready.  There  has  been  much 
harm  done  in  Athens  by  men  who  cannot  hold  their 
tongues.  As  you  know,  the  patriots  there  are  collecting 
money  and  men,  but  they  are  so  proud  of  their  subscrip- 
tions, which  are  very  large,  that  they  simply  behave  like 
cocks  at  sunrise  on  the  house-roofs.  Here  let  there  be  no 
talking.  When  the  time  comes  Father  Andrea  will  speak ; 
he  will  put  the  simmering-pot  on  the  fire.  I  would  give 
five  years  of  my  life  to  be  able  to  talk  as  he  can  talk." 

''  The  next  five  years  ?"  asked  Demetri. 

Nicholas  smiled. 

*MVell,  no,  not  the  next  five  years.  I  would  not  give 
them  up  for  fifty  thousand  years  of  heaven,  I  think. 
Have  you  any  corn  ?" 

*^  Black  corn  for  the  Turk  ?" 

"Surely." 

Demetri  glanced  at  Mitsos,  and  raised  his  eyebrows. 
"  Even  now  the  mills  are  grinding,"  he  said. 

43 


THE    VINTAGE 

^*  Let  there  be  no  famine/' 

Mitsos,  of  course,  understood  no  word  of  this,  and  his 
uncle  did  not  think  fit  to  enlighten  him. 

*' You  will  hear  more  about  the  black  corn/'  he  said 
to  him.  '^  It  makes  good  bread.  At  present  forget  that 
you  have  heard  of  it  at  all.  Have  you  got  these  men  for 
me  ?"  he  asked,  turning  again  to  Demetri. 

''  Yes ;  do  you  want  them  to-day  ?" 

"No.  Mitsos  will  go  with  me  as  far  as  Nemea,  and 
they  had  better  join  me  there  to-morrow  night.  Turkish 
dress  will  be  safer." 

He  rose,  leaving  the  brafidy  untasted. 

*'  Will  you  not  drink  ?"  asked  Demetri. 

"No,  thanks.     I  never  drink  spirits." 

Nicholas  left  next  day  after  sunset,  for  a  half-moon 
would  be  rising  by  ten  of  the  night,  and  during  the  day  the 
plain  was  no  better  than  a  grilling-rack.  Already  also  it 
was  safer  for  Greeks  to  travel  by  night,  for  it  was  known 
or  suspected  among  the  Turks  that  some  movement  of 
no  friendly  sort  was  on  foot  among  them,  and  it  had  sev- 
eral times  happened  before  now  that  an  attack  had  been 
made  upon  countrymen,  who  were  waylaid  and  stopped 
in  solitary  mountain  paths  by  bands  of  Turkish  soldiers. 
They  were  questioned  about  the  suspected  designs  of  their 
nation,  on  which  subject  they  for  the  most  part  were  en- 
tirely ignorant,  as  the  plans  of  their  leaders  were  at 
present  but  sparingly  known,  and  the  interview  often 
ended  with  a  shot  or  a  dangling  body.  But  through  the 
incredible  indolence  and  laziness  of  the  Turks,  while 
they  feared  and  suspected  what  was  going  on,  they  con- 
tented themselves  with  stopping  and  questioning  trav- 
ellers whom  they  chanced  on,  and  made  no  increase  in 
the  local  garrisons,  and  kept  no  watch  upon  the  roads 
at  night.     Nicholas,  of  course,  knew  this,  and  when,  as 

44 


THE    VINEYAED 

now,  he  was  making  a  long  journey  into  a  disaffected 
part  of  the  country,  where  his  presence  would  at  once 
have  aroused  suspicion  —  and  indeed,  as  he  had  told 
Mitsos,  there  had  been  a  price  put  on  his  head  twenty 
years  ago  —  he  travelled  by  night,  reaching  the  village 
where  he  was  to  stay  before  daybreak,  and  not  moving 
again  till  after  dark. 

Accordingly  he  and  Mitsos  set  off  after  sunset  across 
the  plain  towards  Corinth.  The  main  road  led  through 
Argos,  which  they  avoided,  keeping  well  to  the  right  of 
the  river  bed.  Their  horses  were  fresh,  and  stepped  out 
at  an  amble,  which  covered  the  ground  nearly  as  quickly 
as  a  trot.  By  ten  o'clock  the  moon  was  swung  high  in  a 
bare  heaven,  and  they  saw  in  front  of  them  a  blot  of 
huddled  houses  in  the  white  light,  the  village  of  Phyctia. 
Again  they  made  a  detour  to  the  right,  in  order  to  avoid 
it,  for  a  garrison  of  Turks  was  stationed  there,  turning 
off  half  a  mile  before  its  outlying  farms  began,  so  as 
not  even  to  run  the  risk  of  awakening  the  dogs.  Their 
way  lay  close  under  the  walls  of  the  ancient  Mycenae, 
where  it  was  reported  that  an  antique  treasure  of  curious 
gold  had  lately  been  found,  and  as  they  were  in  plenty 
of  time  to  reach  Nemea  by  midnight,  Nicholas  halted 
here  for  a  few  minutes,  and  he  and  Mitsos  looked  won- 
deringly  at  the  great  walls  of  the  citadel. 

'*  They  say  the  kings  of  Greece  are  buried  here,  little 
Mitsos/' said  he;  ^'^and  perhaps  your  beard  will  scarce  be 
grown  before  there  are  kings  of  Greece  once  more.'' 

Beyond  Mycenas  they  followed  a  mountain  path  lead- 
ing through  the  woods,  which  joined  a  few  miles  farther 
up  the  main  road  from  Corinth  to  Argos,  and  as  it  was 
now  late,  and  the  ways  were  quiet,  Nicholas  saw  no  reason 
for  not  taking  this  road  as  soon  as  they  struck  it,  and  they 
wound  their  way  up  along  the  steep  narrow  path  towards  it. 

45 


THE    VINTAGE 

The  moon  had  cleared  the  top  of  Mount  Elias  behind 
them — the  moon  of  midsummer  southern  nights — and 
shone  with  a  great  light  as  clear  as  running  water,  and 
turning  everything  to  ebony  and  gleaming  cream-colored 
ivory.  Mitsos  was  riding  first,  more  than  half  asleep, 
and  letting  his  pony  pick  its  own  way  among  the  big 
stones  and  bowlders  which  strewed  the  rough  path,  when 
suddenly  it  shied  violently,  nearly  unseating  him,  and 
wheeled  sheer  round.  He  woke  with  a  start  and  grasped 
at  the  rope  bridle,  which  he  had  tied  to  the  wooden 
pommel  on  the  saddle -board,  to  check  it.  Nicholas's 
pony  had  shied  too,  but  he  was  the  first  to  head  it  round 
again,  and  Mitsos,  who  had  been  carried  past  him,  dis- 
mounted and  led  his  pony,  trembling  and  restive,  up  to 
the  other.  Nicholas  had  dismounted  too,  and  was  stand- 
ing at  the  point  where  the  bridle-path  led  into  the  main 
road  when  Mitsos  came  up. 

"  What  did  they  shy  at  ?"  Mitsos  began,  when  suddenly 
he  saw  that  which  stopped  the  words  on  his  tongue. 

From  a  tree  at  the  juncture  of  the  paths,  in  the  full, 
white  blaze  of  the  moonlight,  hung  the  figure  of  a  man. 
His  arms  were  dropped  limply  by  his  side,  and  his  feet 
dangled  some  two  feet  from  the  ground.  On  his  shoul- 
der was  a  deep  gash,  speaking  of  a  struggle  before  he 
was  secured,  and  blood  in  black  clots  was  sprinkled  on 
the  front  of  his  white  linen  tunic.  Above  the  strangling 
line  which  went  round  his  neck  the  muscles  were  thick 
and  swollen  and  the  glands  of  the  throat  congested  into 
monstrous  lumps.  < 

But  Nicholas  only  stopped  the  space  of  a  deep-drawn 
breath,  and  then,  throwing  his  bridle  to  Mitsos,  drew  his 
knife  and  cut  the  rope.  The  two  horses  shied  so  vio- 
lently as  Nicholas  staggered  forward  with  his  murdered 
burden  that  Mitsos,  unable  to  hold  them  both,  let  go  of 

46 


THE    VINEYARD 

his  own  and  clung  with  both  hands  to  the  bridle  of 
Nicholas's  horse,  while  his  own  animal  clattered  off  down 
the  path  homeward.  Then  soothing  its  terror  from  the 
other,  he  led  it  past  into  the  main  road,  where  he  tied  it 
up  to  a  tree  some  twenty  yards  on,  and  himself  returned 
to  where  Nicholas  was  kneeling  over  the  body. 

He  looked  up  and  spoke  with  a  deadly  calm.  "We 
are  too  late,''  he  said  ;   *'he  is  quite  dead." 

And  suddenly,  after  the  hot-blooded,  warm-hearted 
nature  of  his  race,  this  strong  man,  who  had  lived  half 
his  life  with  blood  and  death  and  murder  to  be  the  com- 
panions of  his  days  and  nights,  burst  into  tears. 

Mitsos  was  awed  and  silent. 

"  Do  you  know  him.  Uncle  Nicholas  ?"  he  asked,  at 
length. 

**No,  I  do  not  know  him,  but  he  is  one  of  my  un- 
happy race,  whom  this  brood  of  devils  oppresses  and 
treats  as  it  would  not  treat  a  dog.  Mitsos,"  he  said, 
with  a  gesture  of  fire,  *' swear  that  you  will  never  forget 
this!  Look  here,  look  here!"  he  cried.  "Look  how 
they  have  made  of  him  an  offence  to  the  light ;  look 
how  they  killed  him  by  a  disgraceful  death,  and  why  ? 
For  no  reason  but  because  he  was  a  Greek.  Look  at 
his  face ;  force  yourself  to  look  at  it.  The  lips  are 
purple  ;  the  eyes,  as  dead  as  grapes,  start  from  his  head. 
He  was  killed  like  a  dog.  If  they  catch  you  alone  in 
such  a  place  they  will  do  the  same  to  you,  to  you  whose 
only  offence  is,  as  this  poor  burden's  has  been,  that  you 
are  Greek.  Look  at  his  neck,  swollen  in  his  death 
struggle.  Do  you  know  how  the  accursed  men  killed 
Katzantones  and  his  brother  ?  They  beat  them  to  death 
with  wooden  hammers,  sparing  the  head  only,  so  that 
they  might  live  the  longer.  Katzantones  was  ill  and 
weak,  and  cried  out  with  the  pain  ;  but  Yorgi,  as  he  lay 

47 


THE    VINTAGE 

on  the  ground,  with  arms  and  legs  and  ankles  and  hands 
broken,  and  lying  out  of  semblance  of  a  man,  only 
laughed,  and  told,  them  they  could  not  kill  a  fly  with 
such  puny  blows." 

The  boy  suddenly  turned  away. 

*'  Enough,  enough  !"  he  said.  ^'  I  do  not  wish  to  look. 
It  is  too  horrible.  Why  do  you  make  it  more  frightful 
to  me  r 

Nicholas  did  not  seem  to  hear  what  he  said,  and  went 
on,  in  a  sort  of  savage  frenzy. 

"Look,  look,  I  tell  you  \"  he  cried,  "and  then  swear  in 
the  name  of  God,  remembering  also  what  I  told  you  of 
my  wife  and  child,  that  you  will  have  no  pity  on  the  race 
that  has  done  this — on  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child; 
not  even  on  the  poor,  weak  women,  for  they  are  the 
mothers  of  monsters  who  do  these  things.  This  is  the 
work  of  the  men  they  bear — this  and  outrage  and  in- 
famous lust,  and  the  sins  of  the  cities  which  God  de- 
stroyed." 

He  was  silent  a  moment,  and  then  spoke  more  calmly. 

"  So  swear,  Mitsos,  in  the  name  of  God  !" 

And  Mitsos,  with  quivering  lips  of  horror,  but  sud- 
denly steeled,  looked  at  the  dead  thing  and  swore. 

"And  now,"  said  Nicholas,  "take  hold  of  the  feet, 
and  we  will  give  it  what  burial  we  can.  Stay,  wait  a 
moment."  He  tore  off  a  piece  of  the  man's  tunic,  and, 
dipping  his  finger  in  the  blood  that  still  was  wet  on  the 
shoulder,  wrote  in  Turkish  the  word  "  Revenge,"  and 
fastened  it  to  the  end  of  the  rope  which  still  dangled 
from  the  tree.  Then  he  and  Mitsos  took  the  body  some 
yards  distant  into  the  copse  that  lined  the  road,  and  tear- 
ing up  brushwood  gave  it  covering.  On  this  they  laid 
stones  until  it  was  completely  concealed  and  defended 
against  the  preying  creatures  of  the  mountain. 

48 


THE    VINEYAKD 

Then  Nicholas  bared  his  head. 

*'God  forgive  him  all  his  sins/'  he  said,  "and  impute 
the  double  of  them  to  his  murderers.  Ah,  God,"  he 
cried,  and  his  voice  rose  to  a  yell,  "  grant  me  that  I  may 
kill  and  kill  and  kill ;  and  their  souls  I  leave  to  Thee, 
most  Just  and  most  Terrible  I" 

They  went  to  where  Nicholas's  horse  was  tied  up,  and 
he,  hearing  the  other  had  bolted,  made  Mitsos  mount 
his,  as  he  would  have  to  walk  back,  and  himself  went  on 
foot.  It  was  in  silence  that  they  climbed  the  pass,  but 
in  another  hour  they  came  to  the  junction  of  the  two 
roads  from  Nemea  and  Corinth,  and  Nicholas  told  his 
nephew  to  go  no  farther. 

''It  is  safer  that  I  should  go  alone  here,"  he  said; 
''and  it  is  already  late,  and  you  will  have  to  walk. 
Waste  no  time  about  getting  back  to  the  plain ;  the 
nights  are  short." 

He  paused  for  a  moment,  looking  affectionately  at  the 
boy. 

"  Thus  are  you  baptized  in  blood,"  he  said,  then 
paused,  and  he  moistened  his  lips.  "  A  great  deal  may 
depend  on  you,  little  one,"  he  went  on.  "  I  have  watched 
you  growing  up,  and  you  are  growing  up  as  I  would  have 
you  grow.  Distrust  everything  and  everybody  except, 
perhaps,  your  father  and  myself,  and  be  afraid  of  noth- 
ing, while  you  suspect  everything.  At  the  same  time  I 
want  you,  and  many  will  want  you ;  so  take  care." 

He  put  his  hands  on  his  shoulders. 

"  I  shall  be  back  in  a  year  or  six  months,  or  perhaps 
to-morrow,  or  perhaps  never.  That  does  not  concern 
you.  Your  father  and  I  will  always  tell  you  what  to  do. 
And  now  good-bye." 

He  kissed  him  on  the  cheek,  mounted  his  horse,  and 
rode  off,  never  looking  behind.  Mitsos  stopped  still  for 
D  49 


THE    VINTAGE 

a  moment  looking  after  him,  and  then  turned  to  go 
home. 

Five  minutes  more  brought  Nicholas  to  the  edge  of 
the  village  where  the  three  men  whom  Demetri  had  sent 
were  waiting  for  him.  One  of  them  was  a  Greek  servant, 
who  held  Nicholases  horse  while  he  dismounted  and 
changed  his  Albanian  costume  for  a  Turkish  dress  ;  the 
others  were  leaders  of  local  movements  against  the 
Turks,  and  were  going  with  him  to  Corinth.  Like 
Nicholas  himself,  they  all  spoke  Turkish.  " 

Nicholas  dressed  himself  quickly,  but  then  stopped  for 
a  moment  irresolute.     Then — 

''Take  the  horse  on,^^  he  said  to  the  servant.  "I  will 
go  on  foot  awhile.^' 

Mitsos  meantime  was  walking  quickly  along  the  road 
back  towards  Argos.  He  would  scarcely  acknowledge 
to  himself  how  very  much  he  disliked  the  thought  of 
taking  that  bridle-path  through  the  woods,  for  the  rec- 
ollection he  retained  of  that  end  of  rope  dangling  from 
the  tree,  with  the  fragment  of  tunic  fluttering  in  the 
breeze,  and  that  heap  of  white  stones  glimmering  among 
the  bushes,  was  too  vivid  for  his  liking.  Even  his  pony 
would  have  been  companionable ;  but  his  pony,  as  he 
hoped,  was  near  home  by  this  time. 

Once  or  twice  he  thought  he  heard  movements  and 
whispered  rustlings  in  the  bushes,  which  made  his  heart 
beat  rather  quicker  than  its  wont.  Ordinarily  he  would 
not  have  noticed  such  thing's,  but  the  scene  at  the  cross- 
road still  twanged  some  string  of  horror  within  him. 

However,  the  road  must  be  trod,  and  keeping  his  eyes 
steadily  averted — for  like  his  race  he  held  ghosts  in  ac- 
credited horror  —  he  marched  with  a  show  of  courage 
past  the  spot,  and  began  making  his  way  down  the  rough 
bridle-path. 

50 


THE    VINEYAED 

Thin  skeins  of  clouds  had  risen  from  the  sea,  and  the 
moon  was  travelling  swiftly  through  them,  casting  only 
a  diffused  and  aqueous  light;  but  the  path,  with  the 
glimmering  white  stones  of  its  cobbling,  showed  clearly 
enough,  and  there  was  no  fear  of  his  missing  his  way. 
But  about  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  down  the  path  he 
heard  a  noise  which  made  his  heart  spring  suddenly  into 
his  throat  and  stay  there  poised  for  a  moment,  giving  a 
little  cracking  sound  at  each  beat.  The  sound  needed 
not  interpretation ;  two  men,  if  not  three,  were  running 
down  the  main  road  he  had  just  left.  Instantly  he  had 
left  the  path,  and  striking  into  the  bushes  at  the  side 
moved  quickly  up  the  hill  again,  hoping  to  turn  them  off 
the  scent.  But  as  they  came  nearer  he  stopped,  still 
crouching  in  the  bushes,  and  though  he  was,  as  he  knew, 
very  indifferently  concealed,  he  dared  not  go  farther 
among  the  trees  for  fear  that  the  sound  of  his  steps 
crackling  among  the  dry  brushwood  should  lead  them  to 
him,  and,  remembering  Nicholas's  lessons  in  the  art  of 
keeping  still,  he  waited.  His  pursuers,  if  pursuers  they 
were,  seemed  to  go  the  more  slowly  as  they  turned  into 
the  path  he  had  just  left,  and  soon  he  caught  sight  of 
them  through  the  tree  trunks.  There  were  two  of  them, 
and  he  saw  they  were  Turks.  As  they  came  nearer  he 
could  hear  them  speaking  together  in  low  tones,  and  then 
one  ran  off  down  the  path,  in  order,  so  he  supposed,  to 
see  whether  he  was  still  on  ahead. 

Mitsos  drew  a  long  breath  ;  there  was  only  one  to  be 
reckoned  with  now,  and  stealing  out  of  the  bush  where 
he  had  been  crouching,  he  moved  as  quietly  as  he  could 
farther  into  cover.  But  a  twig  cracking  with  a  sharp 
report  under  his  foot  revealed  his  hiding,  and  the  man 
who  had  waited  in  the  path  shouted  out  to  the  other. 
The  next  moment  they  were  in  pursuit. 

51 


THE    VINTAGE 

As  he  pushed  through  the  trees  that  seemed  to  stretch 
out  fingers  to  clutch  him,  Mitsos  felt  in  his  belt  for  the 
knife  he  always  carried  with  him,  but  to  his  wondering 
dismay  found  it  had  gone.  Never  in  his  life  could  he 
remember  being  without  it ;  but  this  was  no  season  to 
waste  time,  and  knowing  that  his  only  chance  lay  in 
running  he  plunged  along  through  the  bushes  in  order 
to  get  back  to  the  path  and  match  his  speed  against 
theirs.  But  his  pursuers  were  close  behind  him,  and  in 
jumping,  or  trying  to  jump,  a  small  thicket  which  closed 
his  path,  he  caught  his  foot  and  fell. 

Then  came  cold  fear  with  a  clutch.  Before  he  had 
time  to  recover  himself  they  had  seized  him.  Once  he 
let  out  with  his  right  hand  at  the  face  of  one  of  the  men, 
who  just  avoided  the  blow,  and  then  both  wrists  were 
seized.  They  whipped  a  cord  round  his  legs,  tied  his 
hands  behind  his  back,  and  carried  him  off  straight  to 
the  tree  from  which  the  end  of  the  rope  and  its  ghastly 
legend  were  still  hanging. 

A  third  Turk  was  sitting  there  on  the  ground  in  the 
shadow  smoking,  and  as  the  others  came  up  he  said  a 
word  to  them  in  Turkish  which  Mitsos  did  not  under- 
stand. Then  one  of  his  captors  turned  to  him,  and 
speaking  in  Greek,  ''  Tell  us  where  Nicholas  Vidalis  is,^' 
he  said,  ^^and  we  will  let  you  go.'''' 

Silence. 

'^We  know  who  you  are.  You  are  Mitsos  Codones, 
the  son  of  Constantine,  from  Nauplia,  and  he  is  your 
uncle." 

Mitsos  looked  up. 

*'That  is  so.  But  I  have  not  seen  him  for  a  year — 
more  than  a  year,"  he  said. 

One  of  the  men  laughed. 

**Tell  us  where  he  is,"  he  said,  *'and  we  will  let  you 

52 


THE    VINEYARD 

go,  and  this  for  your  information,  for  you  were  seen  with 
him  yesterday  in  Nauplia,^'  and  he  held  out  a  handful  of 
piastres. 

This  time  Mitsos  laughed,  though  laughing  was  not 
in  his  thoughts,  and  the  sound  was  strange  to  his  own 
ears. 

"  That  is  a  lie,"  he  said  ;  *'  he  has  not  been  at  Nauplia 
for  a  year.  As  for  your  piastres,  if  you  think  I  am  tell- 
ing you  a  lie,  do  you  suppose  that  I  should  speak  differ- 
ently for  the  sake  of  them  ?  Be  damned  to  your  pias- 
tres," and  he  laughed  again. 

"I  will  give  you  one  minute,"  said  the  other,  "and 
then  you  will  hang  from  that  tree  if  you  do  not  tell  us. 
One  of  your  countrymen,  I  see,  has  cut  the  rope,  but  there 
will  be  enough  for  a  tall  boy  like  you." 

They  strolled  away  towards  where  the  third  man  was 
sitting,  leaving  him  there  bound. 

*' Perhaps  the  end  of  the  rope  might  help  him  to 
speak,"  said  one.     But  the  third  man  shook  his  head. 

AVhat  Mitsos  thought  of  during  these  few  seconds  he 
never  clearly  knew,  and  as  far  as  he  wished  for  anything, 
he  wished  them  to  be  quick.  He  noticed  that  the  edge 
of  the  moon  was  free  of  the  clouds  again,  and  it  would 
soon  be  lighter.  He  felt  a  breeze  come  up  from  the  east, 
which  fluttered  the  rag  of  tunic  hanging  from  the  rope, 
and  once  a  small  bird,  clucking  and  frightened,  flew  out 
of  a  thicket  near.  Then  the  two  men  came  up  and  pulled 
him  under  the  tree.  The  end  of  the  piece  of  tunic 
flapped  against  his  forehead. 

They  untied  the  rope,  and  the  one  made  a  noose  in  it, 
while  the  other  turned  back  the  collar  of  his  coat.  Then 
the  rope  was  passed  round  his  throat  and  tightened  till 
he  felt  the  knot  behind,  just  where  the  hair  grows  short 
on  the  neck. 

53 


THE    VINTAGE 

''One  more  chance,"  said  the  man.  "Will  you 
tell  us  r 

Mitsos  had  shut  his  eyes,  and  he  clinched  his  teeth  to 
help  himself  not  to  speak.  For  a  moment  they  all  waited, 
quite  still. 

''  Then  up  with  him,"  said  the  man. 

He  waited  for  the  choking  tension  of  the  rope,  still  si- 
lent, still  with  clinched  teeth  and  e3^elids.  Bat  instead 
of  that  he  felt  two  hands  on  his  shoulders,  and  fingers 
at  the  knot  behind,  and  he  opened  his  eyes.  The  third 
man,  who  had  been  silent,  was  standing  in  front  of  him. 

''Mitsos,"  he  said,  "my  great  little  Mitsos." 

For  a  moment  the  world  spun  dizzily  round  him,  and 
he  half  fell,  half  staggered  against  Nicholas. 

"You!"  he  said. 

"Yes,  I.  Mitsos,  will  you  forgive  me?  I  ought  to 
have  been  certain  of  you,  and  indeed  in  my  heart  I  was  ; 
but  I  wanted  to  test  you  to  the  full,  to  put  the  fear  of 
death  before  you,  for  it  was  needful  that  I  should  give 
convincing  proof  to  others.  My  poor  boy,  don't  tremble 
so  ;  it  was  necessary,  believe  me.  By  the  Virgin,  Mitsos, 
if  you  had  hit  one  hundredth  part  of  a  second  sooner  one 
of  these  men  would  have  gone  home  with  no  nose  and 
fewer  teeth.  You  hit  straight  from  the  shoulder,  with 
your  weight  in  your  fist.  And  that  double  you  made  up 
the  hill  was  splendid.     Mitsos,  speak  to  me  !" 

But  the  boy,  pale  and  trembling,  had  sunk  down  on 
the  ground  with  bent  head,  and  said  nothing. 

"Here,  spirits,"  said  Nicholas,  and  he  made  Mitsos 
drink. 

He  sat  dovvn  by  him,  and  with  almost  womanly  tender- 
ness was  stroking  his  hair. 

"You  were  as  firm  as  a  rock,"  he  said,  "when  you 
stood  there,  and  I  saw  the  muscle  of  your  jaw  clinch." 

54 


THE    VINEYARD 

Mitsos,  to  whom  spirit  was  a  new  thing,  recovered 
himself  quickly  with  a  little  choking. 

"I  wasn't  frightened  at  the  moment,"  he  said;  "I 
was  only  frightened  before,  when  I  knew  I  was  caught/' 

Then,  as  his  boyish  spirits  began  to  reassert  them- 
selves, '^Did  I — did  I  behave  all  right.  Uncle  Nicholas  ?" 

"  I  wish  to  see  no  better  behavior.  It  is  even  as  your 
father  told  me,  that  you  were  fit  for  the  keeping  of  se- 
crets." 

Mitsos  flushed  with  pleasure. 

"  Then  I  don't  mind  if  it  has  made  you  think  that, 
though,  by  the  Virgin,  my  stomach  was  cold.  But  if  I 
had  had  my  knife  there  would  have  been  blood  let.  I 
cannot  think  how  I  lost  it." 

Nicholas  laughed. 

''Here  it  is,"  he  said.  "It  was  even  I  who  took  it 
away  from  you  while  you  were  dozing  as  you  rode.  I 
thought  it  might  be  dangerous  in  your  barbarous  young 
hands." 

Mitsos  put  it  back  in  his  belt. 

''I  am  ready  now.     I  shall  start  off  again." 

Nicholas  rose,  too. 

"I  will  come  with  you  as  far  as  the  plain,  and  then 
my  road  is  forward.  The  piastres  were  a  poor  trick, 
eh  ?" 

''Very  poor  indeed,  I  thought,"  said  Mitsos,  grinning. 

The  uncle  and  nephew  walked  on  together,  and  the 
other  two  men  strolled  more  slowly  after  them.  Nicho- 
las could  have  shouted  aloud  for  joy.  He  had  found 
what  he  had  sought  with  such  fastidiousness — some  one 
whom  he  could  trust  unreservedly,  and  over  whom  he 
had  influence.  To  do  him  justice,  the  cruelty  of  what 
he  had  done  made  his  stomach  turn  against  himself ; 
but  he  was  associated  with  men  who  rightly  mistrusted 

55 


THE    VINTAGE 

everybody,  except  on  convincing  proof  of  their  trust- 
worthiness. Mitsos  had  stood  the  severest  test  that 
could  be  devised  without  flinching.  He  was  one  of  ten 
thousand. 

At  the  end  of  the  woods  they  parted.  Mitsos'  nerve 
had  come  back  to  him,  and  the  knowledge  that  he  had 
won  Nicholas's  trust,  combined  with  the  fascination  the 
man  exercised  over  him,  quite  overscored  any  grudge  he 
might  have  felt,  for  Nicholas's  last  words  to  him  were 
words  to  be  remembered. 

"And  now,  good-bye,"  he  said.  "You  have  behaved 
in  a  way  I  scarce  dared  to  hope  you  could,  though  I 
think  I  believed  you  would.  You  have  been  through  a 
man's  test,  the  test  of  a  strong,  faithful  man.  Others 
will  soon  know  of  it,  and  know  you  to  be  trustworthy  to 
the  uttermost.  Greece  shall  be  revenged,  and  you  shall 
be  among  the  foremost  of  her  avengers." 

So  Nicholas  went  his  way  northward  and  Mitsos 
towards  home,  and  just  as  the  earliest  streak  of  dawn 
lit  the  sky  he  reached  his  father's  house. 

The  truant  pony  was  standing  by  the  way-side  cropping 
the  dew-drenched  grass. 


CHAPTER   V 
MITSOS  PICKS  CHERRIES  FOR  MARIA 

At  Nauplia  the  summer  passed  quietly,  though  from 
other  parts  of  the  country  came  fresh  tales  of  intolerable 
taxation,  cruelty,  and  outrage,  hideous  beyond  belief. 
But  this  Argive  district  was  exceptionally  lucky  in  hav- 
ing for  its  governor  a  man  who  saw  that  it  was  possible 
to  overstep  the  mark  even  in  dealing  with  these  infidel 
dogs ;  partly,  also,  Nicholas's  visit,  his  injunctions  to 
the  leading  Greeks  to  keep  quiet,  and  his  hints  that  they 
would  not  need  to  keep  quiet  long  produced  a  certain 
effect ;  as  also  did  an  exhortation  delivered  by  Father 
Andrea,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  blessings  of  peace  with 
a  ferocious  tranquillity  which  left  no  loop-hole  for  mis- 
construction. 

July  and  August  were  a  tale  of  scorched  and  burning 
days,  but  the  vines  were  doing  well,  and  the  heat  only 
served  to  ripen  them  the  sooner.  In  some  years,  when 
the  summer  months  had  been  cold  and  unseasonable, 
the  grapes  would  not  swell  to  full  ripeness  till  the  latter 
days  of  October,  and  thus  there  was  the  danger  of  the 
first  autumn  storms  wrecking  the  maturing  crop.  But 
this  year,  thanks  to  the  heat,  there  was  no  doubt  that 
they  would  be  ripe  for  gathering  by  the  third  week  in 
September,  and,  humanly  speaking,  a  fine  grape  harvest 
was  assured. 

A  certain  change  had   come   over   Mitsos  since  the 

57 


THE    VINTAGE 

events  of  the  night  recorded  in  the  last  chapter.  He 
suddenly  seemed  to  have  awoke  to  a  sense  of  his  bud- 
ding manhood,  and  his  cat,  much  to  that  sedately 
minded  creature^s  satisfaction,  was  allowed  to  shape 
her  soft -padded  basking  life  as  she  pleased.  He  used 
to  go  out  in  the  dewiness  of  dawn,  while  it  was  still 
scarce  light,  to  try  for  a  shot  at  the  hares  which  came 
down  from  the  hills  at  night  to  feed  in  the  vineyards, 
and  at  evening  again  he  would  lie  in  wait  near  a  spring 
below  Mount  Elias  to  shoot  the  roe  when  they  came  to 
water.  But  during  the  day  there  was  no  mark  for  his 
gun,  for  the  game  went  high  away  among  the  hills  to 
avoid  the  broiling  heat  of  the  plains,  or  stayed  in  cover 
of  the  pine  woods  upon  the  mountain  -  sides,  where  the 
growth  was  too  thick  for  shooting,  and  where  some 
cracking  twig  would  ever  advertise  a  footstep,  however 
stealthy. 

But  the  sudden  and  violent  winds  of  the  summer 
months  had  set  in,  and  sailing  gave  him  day-long  occu- 
pation. He  made  it  his  business  to  know  the  birth-hour 
of  the  land-breeze,  the  length  of  the  dead  calm  that  fol- 
lows, and  the  hour  when  the  sea-breeze  again  winnows 
the  windless  heaven  ;  to  read  the  signs  of  the  thread-like 
streamers  in  the  upper  air,  which  mean  a  strong  breeze  ; 
the  vibration  on  the  sea's  horizon,  like  the  trembling  of  a 
steel  spring,  which  means  heat  and  calm,  and  the  soft- 
feathered  clouds,  with  dim,  blurred  outlines  that  tell  of 
moisture  in  the  air,  which  will  fall  the  hour  after  sunset 
in  fine,  warm,  needle-pointed  rain.  His  boat  might  often 
be  seen  scudding  across  the  bay  and  into  the  water  of  the 
gulf  outside,  skirting  round  the  promontories,  running 
up  into  the  creeks  and  inlets  until,  as  Nicholas  had  told 
him  he  should  do,  he  got  to  know  the  shape  of  the  land 
as  he  knew  the  shape  of  his  own  head.     Above  all,  he 

58 


THE    VINEYARD 

would  practise  beating  out  to  sea  in  the  teeth  of  the  sea- 
breeze,  running  out  to  a  given  point  in  as  few  tacks  as 
possible,  and  then,  when  the  sea-breeze  died  away,  he 
would  put  into  some  inlet,  fish  for  a  little,  and  sleep 
curled  up  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  awake  with  the 
awakening  of  the  land  breeze,  and  run  back  again,  close 
hauled,  past  Nauplia,  and  up  to  the  side  of  the  bay, 
where  he  beached  his  boat.  In  these  long  hours  alone 
on  the  sea  he  would  sit  in  the  stern,  when  the  boat  was 
steady  on  some  two-mile  tack,  thinking  intently  of  the 
new  life  for  which  he  was  preparing  himself.  Though 
Nicholas's  stories,  and  the  tales  of  oppression  and  out- 
rage with  which  all  mouths  were  full,  made  personal  to 
him  the  longing  for  vengeance  on  that  bestial  breed,  it 
was  Nicholas  himself  who  was  the  inspirer,  and  his  indig- 
nation was  scarce  more  than  an  image  in  a  mirror  of 
Nicholas.  His  uncle  had  long  been  acquiring  that  domi- 
nation a  man  can  have  for  a  boy,  and  the  main  desire  and 
resolve  of  his  mind  was  to  obey  Nicholas,  whatever  order 
he  might  lay  on  him,  and  this  resolve  to  obey  was  rapidly 
becoming  an  instinct  over-mastering  and  unique.  His 
father,  far  from  making  objections  to  his  spending  his 
time  in  sailing  and  shooting,  encouraged  him  thereto,  for 
Nicholas  had  bade  him  hire  labor  whenever  he  wanted  a 
lad  in  Mitsos'  place,  saying  that  the  club  at  Athens  had- 
authorized  him  to  make  payments  for  such  things.  Mit- 
sos,  in  fact,  had  defnitely  entered  into  the  service  of  his 
country,  and  it  was  only  right  that  his  father  should  be 
compensated  for  'the  loss  of  a  hand. 

But  during  these  months  there  was  little  or  no  farm- 
work  to  be  done.  Early  in  July  Constantine  had  put  up 
a  little  reed-built  shed  to  overlook  his  vineyard,  and  there 
he  spent  most  of  the  day  scaring  away  the  birds  that  came 
to  eat  the  grapes,  and  playing  with  his  string  of  polished 


THE    VINTAGE 

beads,  which  he  passed  to  and  fro  between  his  hands, 
every  now  and  then  stopping  to  sling  a  pebble  at  a  bird 
he  saw  settling  in  the  vines.  The  sparrows  were  the 
greatest  enemies,  for  they  would  fly  over  in  flocks  of 
eighty  or  a  hundred  and  settle  in  different  parts  of  the 
vineyard,  and  when  he  cleared  one  quarter  and  turned  to 
clear  another,  the  first  covey  would  be  back  and  renewing 
their  depredations  on  the  grapes.  He  had  an  almost 
exaggerated  repugnance  in  taking  the  funds  of  the  club 
unless  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  hire  an  extra  hand, 
and  until  the  last  week  before  the  harvest  he  managed 
alone  ;  but  then — for  the  grapes  were  tight-skinned  and 
juicy,  and  a  single  bird  holding  on  to  a  bunch  with  its 
claws  and  feeding  indiscriminately  from  this  grape  and 
that  would  spoil  the  hundredfold  of  what  it  ate — he  hired 
a  boy  from  Nauplia,  and  erected  another  shed  some  fifty 
yards  off.  There  they  would  sit  from  sunrise  to  sunset, 
and  at  sunset  Mitsos  returned  brown  and  fresh,  with  a 
song  from  the  sea,  with  his  black  hair  drying  back  into 
its  crisp  curls  after  his  evening  bathe,  and  an  enormous 
appetite.  He  and  Oonstantine  sat  together  till  about 
nine,  and  then  Mitsos  would  go  off  to  the  cafes,  following 
Nicholas's  instructions,  and  play  cards  or  draughts,  ever 
pricking  an  attentive  ear  when  comments  on  the  Turks 
were  on  the  board.  Nicholas's  directions,  however,  that 
there  should  be  no  talking  of  the  great  matter,  was  being 
obeyed  too  implicitly  for  Mitsos  to  pick  up  much ;  but 
he  acquired  great  skill  at  the  game  of  draughts,  even 
being  able  to  play  three  games  at  a  time. 

One  evening,  just  before  the  vintage  began,  he  returned 
earlier  than  usual  with  a  frown  on  his  face.  His  father 
was  sitting  on  the  veranda,  not  expecting  him  yet. 

^'  Have  you  heard,"  said  Mitsos,  ''  what  these  Turks 
have  in  hand  about  the  vintage  ?'' 


THE    VINEYARD 

'^  About  the  vintage  ?    No." 

"  Instead  of  paying  one-tenth  to  the  tax-collector,  we 
are  to  pay  one-seventh  ;  and  instead  of  paying  in  grapes, 
we  pay  in  wine." 

*'  One-seventh  ?    It  is  impossible  !" 

"It  is  true." 

"  Where  did  you  hear  it  ?" 

"In  the  last  hour  at  the  cafe  in  the  square.  They 
are  all  clacking  and  swearing  right  and  left,  and  the 
soldiers  are  patrolling  the  streets." 

Constantino  got  up. 

"I  must  go,  then,"  he  said.  "This  is  just  what 
Nicholas  did  not  want  to  happen.  Have  there  been 
blows  between  the  soldiers  and  the  Greeks  ?" 

"Yanko  knocked  a  Turkish  soldier  down  with  such 
a  bang  for  calling  him  a  clog  that  the  man  will  never 
have  front  teeth  again.  They  took  him  and  clapped  him 
in  prison." 

"The  fat  lout  shall  eat  stick  from  me  when  he  comes 
out.  I  suppose,  as  usual,  he  was  neither  drunk  nor  sober," 
said  Constantino.  "  As  if  knocking  a  soldier  down  took 
away  the  tax.     Is  Father  Andrea  there  ?" 

"I  passed  him  just  now  on  the  road,"  said  Mitsos, 
"going  to  the  town." 

Constantino  got  up. 

"  Stop  here,  Mitsos,"  he  said ;  "  I  will  catch  Father 
Andrea  up,  and  make  him  tell  them  to  be  quiet.  He 
can  do  what  he  pleases  with  that  tongue  of  his." 

"  But  mayn't  I  come  ?"  said  Mitsos,  scenting  an  en- 
trancing row. 

"And  get  your  black  head  broken?  No,  that  will 
keep  for  a  worthier  cause." 

Constantino  hurried  off  and  caught  Father  Andrea  up 
before  he  entered  the  town. 

61 


THE    VINTAGE 

^'Father/'  he  said,  '^you  can  stop  this,  for  they  will 
listen  to  you.     Eemember  what  Nicholas  said." 

Father  Andrea  nodded. 

"I  heard  there  were  loud  talk  and  blows  in  the  town, 
and  I  am  on  the  road  for  that  reason.  Nicholas  is  right. 
We  must  pay  the  extra  tax,  and  for  every  pint  of  wine 
we  pay  we  will  exact  a  gallon  of  blood.  Ah,  God,  how  I 
have  fasted  and  prayed  one  prayer — ^^to  wash  my  hands  in 
the  blood  of  the  Turks.'' 

*'  Softly,"  said  Constantino,  '^  here  is  the  guard." 

The  guard  at  the  gate  was  unwilling  at  first  to  let 
them  pass,  but  Andrea,  without  a  moment's  hesitation, 
said  that  he  was  a  priest  going  to  visit  a  dying  man  who 
wished  to  make  a  confession,  with  Constantino  as  wit- 
ness, and  they  were  admitted. 

"  God  will  forgive  me  that  lie,"  he  said,  as  they  passed 
on.    *'It  is  for  His  cause  that  I  lied." 

Since  Mitsos'  departure  the  disturbance  had  in- 
creased. There  were  some  forty  or  fifty  Greeks  collected 
in  the  centre  of  the  square,  and  Turkish  soldiers  were 
coming  out  one  by  one  from  the  barracks  and  mingling 
with  the  crowd.  The  Greeks,  according  to  their  custom, 
all  carried  knives,  but  were  otherwise  unarmed ;  the 
Turks  had  guns  and  pistols.  There  was  a  low,  angry 
murmur  going  up  from  the  people,  which  boded  mischief. 
Just  as  they  came  up  Father  Andrea  turned  to  Constan- 
tine. 

"Stop  outside  the  crowd," he  said,  "do  not  mix  your- 
self up  in  this.  They  will  not  touch  me,  for  I  am  a 
priest." 

Then  elbowing  his  way  among  the  people,  he  shouted : 
"A  priest — a  priest  of  God  !     Let  me  pass." 

The  Greeks  in  the  crowd  parted,  making  way  for  him 
as  he  pushed  through,  conspicuous  by  his  great  height. 


THE    VINEYARD 

though  here  and  there  a  Turkish  soldier  tried  to  stop  him. 
But  Andrea  demanded  to  be  let  into  the  middle  of  them 
with  such  authority  that  they  too  fell  back,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  elbow  his  way  on.  He  was  already  well  among 
the  people  when  two  voices  detached  themselves,  as  it 
were,  from  the  angry,  low  murmur,  shrilling  up  apart  in 
loud,  violent  altercation,  and  the  next  moment  a  Greek  just 
in  front  of  him  rushed  foward  and  stabbed  a  Turk  in  the 
arm.  The  soldier  raised  his  pistol  and  fired,  and  the  man 
turned  over  on  his  face,  with  a  grunt  and  one  stretching 
convulsion,  dead.  There  was  a  moment's  silence,  and 
then  the  murmur  grew  shriller  and  louder,  and  the  crowd 
pressed  forward.     Andrea  held  up  his  hand. 

"I  am  Father  Andrea, ''  he  shouted,  ^'whom  you 
know.  In  God's  name  listen  to  me  a  moment.  Silence 
there,  all  of  you." 

For  a  moment  again  there  was  a  lull  at  his  raised  voice, 
and  Andrea  took  advantage  of  it. 

*'The  curse  of  all  the  saints  of  God  be  upon  the  Greek 
who  next  uses  his  knife,"  he  cried.  "Who  is  the  officer 
in  command  ?" 

A  young  Turkish  officer  standing  close  to  him  turned 
round. 

''1  am  in  command,"  he  said,  "and  I  command  you 
to  go,  unless  you  would  be  seized  with  the  other  ring- 
leaders." 

"I  shall  not  go ;  my  place  is  here." 

"For  the  last  time,  go." 

"  I  offer  myself  as  hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  the 
Greeks,"  said  Andrea,  quietly.  "  Blood  has  been  shed. 
I  am  here  that  there  may  be  no  more.  Let  me  speak  to 
them  and  then  take  me,  and  if  there  is  more  disturbance 
kill  me." 

"  Very  good,"  said  the  officer.     "  I  have  heard  of  you. 

63 


THE    VINTAGE 

But  stop  the  riot  first,  if  you  can.    I  desire  bloodshed  no 
more  than  you." 

The  group  had  now  collected  round  them,  still  waiting 
irresolutely,  in  the  way  a  crowd  does  on  any  one  who 
seems  to  have  authority.    Father  Andrea  turned  to  them. 

'*  You  foolish  children,"  he  cried,  ^^  what  are  you 
doing  ?  The  Sultan  has  added  a  tax,  it  is  true,  but  will 
it  profit  you  to  be  killed  like  dogs  ?  You  have  knives, 
and  you  can  cut  a  finger  nail  with  knives,  and  these 
others  have  guns.  This  poor  dead  thing  learned  that, 
and  he  has  paid  for  his  lesson.  Is  it  better  for  him 
that  he  has  wounded  another  man  now  that  he  has 
gone  to  appear  before  God  ?  And  those  of  you  who  are 
not  shot  will  be  taken  and  hanged.  I  am  here  unarmed, 
as  it  befits  a  priest  to  be.  I  am  a  hostage  for  you.  If 
there  is  further  riot  you  yourselves  will  be  shot  down 
like  dogs,  or  as  you  shoot  the  little  foxes  among  the 
grapes  and  leave  them  for  the  crows  to  eat ;  I  shall  be 
hanged,  for  I  go  hostage  for  you  ;  and  the  tax  will  be 
no  less  than  before.     So  now  to  your  homes." 

The  crowd  listened  silently — for  in  those  days  to  be- 
have with  aught  but  respect  to  a  priest  was  sacrilege — 
and  one  or  two  of  the  nearest  put  back  their  knives  into 
their  belts,  yet  stood  there  still  irresolute. 

^'  Come,  every  man  to  his  home,"  said  Andrea  again. 
''Let  those  who  have  wine-shops  close  them,  for  there 
has  been  blood  spilled  to-night." 

But  they  still  stood  there,  and  the  murmur  rose  and 
died,  and  rose  again  like  a  sound  carried  on  a  gusty 
wind,  until  Andrea,  pushing  forward,  laid  his  hand  on 
the  shoulder  of  one  of  the  ringleaders. 

''  Ohristos,"  he  said,  ''  there  is  your  home,  and  your 
wife  waits  for  you.  Go  home,  man,  lest  you  are  carried 
in  feet  first." 

64 


THE    VINEYAKD 

The  man,  directly  and  individually  addressed  by  a 
sti:onger,  turned  and  went,  and  the  others  began  to  melt 
away  till  there  were  only  left  in  the  square  the  Turkish 
soldiers  and  Andrea.  Then  he  spoke  to  the  officer 
again : 

^^I  am  at  your  disposal,"  he  said,  '^  until  you  are  satis- 
lied  that  things  are  quiet  again." 

The  officer  stood  for  a  moment  without  replying. 
Then,  '^1  wish  to  treat  you  with  all  courtesy,"  he  said, 
*'  and  you  have  saved  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to-night. 
But  perhaps  it  will  be  better  if  you  stop  in  my  quarters 
for  an  hour  or  two,  though  I  think  we  shall  have  no 
more  of  this.  AVith  your  permission  I  will  give  you  in 
custody." 

And  with  the  fine  manners  of  his  race,  which  the 
Greeks  for  the  most  part  could  not  understand  and  so 
distrusted,  he  beckoned  to  two  soldiers,  who  led  him  off 
to  the  officer's  quarters. 

The  Turkish  captain  remained  in  the  square  an  hour 
longer,  but  the  disturbance  seemed  to  be  quite  over,  and 
he  followed  Father  Andrea. 

"  You  will  smoke  or  drink  ?"  he  said,  laying  his  sword 
on  the  table. 

''  I  neither  smoke  nor  drink,"  answered  Andrea. 

The  officer  sat  down,  looking  at  him  from  his  dark, 
lustreless  eyes. 

"  It  is  natural  you  should  hate  us,"  he  said,  "and  but 
for  you  there  would  have  been  a  serious  disturbance,  and 
not  Greek  blood  alone  would  have  been  shed.  I  am 
anxious  to  know  why  you  stopped  the  riot." 

Father  Andrea  smiled. 

"  For  the  reason  I  gave  to  the  rioters.  Is  not  that 
sufficient  ?" 

*' Quite  sufficient;  it  only  occurred  to  me  there  might 
£  65 


THE    VINTAGE 

be  a  further  reason,  a  further- reaching  reason,  so  to 
speak.  I  will  not  detain  you  any  longer.  I  am  sure  no 
further  disturbance  will  take  place." 

Andrea  rose,  and  for  a  moment  the  two  men  faced  eacb 
other.  They  were  both  good  types  of  their  race  :  the 
Greek,  fearless  and  hot-blooded  ;  the  Turk,  fearless  and 
phlegmatic. 

''  I  will  wish  you  good-night,"  said  the  captain  ;  ^'  per- 
haps we  shall  meet  again.  My  name  is  Mehemet  Salik. 
You  owe  nothing  to  me  nor  I  to  you.  You  stopped  the 
riot  and  saved  me  some  trouble,  but  it  was  for  reasons  of 
your  own.  I  have  detained  you  till  I  am  satisfied  there 
will  be  no  more  disturbance  ;  so  if  w^e  meet  again  no  quar- 
ter on  either  side,  for  we  shall  be  enemies." 

"I  shall  neither  give  quarter  nor  ask  it,"  said  Andrea. 

The  vintage  began  the  next  week,  and  for  the  time 
Mitsos  had  to  abandon  his  boat  and  gun  for  the  wine- 
making,  since  he  alone  knew  the  particularities  of  manu- 
facture which  Constantine  practised — the  amount  of 
fermentation  before  finally  casking  the  wine,  the  meas- 
ure of  resin  to  be  put  in,  and  the  right  quality  of  it,  all 
which  were  as  incommunicable  as  the  unwritten  law  of 
tea-making  for  an  individual  taste.  The  small  vineyard 
close  to  the  house,  which  was  all  that  was  left  to  them 
after  the  seizure  of  the  bigger  vineyard  by  the  Turk,  con- 
tained the  best  vines,  which,  being  nearer  to  hand,  had 
inevitably  received  the  better  cultivation.  These  again 
were  divided  into  two  classes,  most  of  them  being  the 
ordinary  country  stock  ;  but  the  other  was  a  nobler  grape 
from  Nemea,  which  yielded  the  finest  wine.  They  were 
always  gathered  last,  and  fermented  in  a  barrel  by  them- 
selves. 

The  evening  before  the  grape -picking  began,  several 
girls  from  neighboring  farms  came  to  find  labor  in  the 

66 


THE    VINEYARD 

gathering  for  a  couple  of  days,  as  the  harvest  would  not 
be  ripe  in  other  vineyards  for  a  day  or  two  yet.  Con- 
stantino engaged  four  of  them,  who  came  early  next 
morning,  just  as  he  and  Mitsos  were  getting  out  the  big 
two-handled  panniers  in  which  the  grapes  were  carried 
to  the  press  from  the  vineyard,  which  lay  dewy  and 
glistening  under  the  clear  dawn.  Spero,  the  boy  who 
had  been  employed  for  the  last  week  in  scaring  birds, 
was  also  engaged  for  the  picking,  and  in  all  they  were 
seven.  For  the  larger  half  of  an  hour  they  all  picked 
together,  until  two  of  the  big  baskets  were  full  and  the 
treading  could  begin.  The  press,  an  old  stone-built  con- 
struction, moss-ridden  and  creviced  outside,  and  coated 
inside  with  fine  stucco,  stood  close  to  the  house.  The 
bottom  of  it  sloped  down  towards  a  small  wooden  sluice 
which  opened  from  its  lower  end,  and  which  could  be 
raised  from  the  inside  when  there  was  sufficient  must 
trodden  to  fill  one  of  the  big  shallow  casks  in  which  it 
was  fermented.  Mitsos  had  spent  the  previous  day  in 
washing  and  scouring  it  with  avuncular  thoroughness, 
scrubbing  the  sides  with  powdered  resin,  and  when  Spero 
had  wanted  to  assist  in  treading  the  grape  instead  of 
gathering,  he  looked  scornful,  and  only  said  : 

"  We  do  not  make  wine  for  you  to  wash  in.  Get  yon 
back  to  the  picking." 

They  poured  the  first  two  big  panniers  of  grapes  into 
the  press  just  as  the  sun  rose,  stalks  and  all,  and  after 
turning  his  trousers  up  to  the  knees,  and  scrubbing  his 
feet  and.  legs  in  hot  water,  Mitsos  stepped  in  and  began 
the  treading.  The  purple  fruit  was  ripe  and  tight- 
skinned,  and  the  red  stuff  soon  began  to  splash  and  spurt 
up,  staining  his  legs.  Another  basket  came  before  he 
had  got  the  first  two  well  under,  and  by  degrees  the 
pickers  gained  on  him.     The  day  promised  a  scorching, 

67 


THE    VINTAGE 

and  the  press,  which  had  at  first  stood  in  the  shade,  had 
been  swung  round  into  the  full  blaze  of  the  sun  before  a 
couple  of  hours  were  over.  About  nine  o'clock  Con- 
stantine,  who  had  just  carried  up  another  basket  with 
Spero,  and  stayed  for  a  moment  looking  at  Mitsos  danc- 
ing fantastically  in  the  sun,  saw  that  there  was  already 
stuff  enough  to  fill  a  cask. 

"There  is  food  for  a  cask  there,''  he  said  to  Mitsos, 
"but  it  is  not  trodden  enough  yet.  You  will  not  keep 
pace  without  some  one  to  help  you." 

Mitsos  paused  a  moment  and  wiped  his  face  with  the 
back  of  his  hand. 

"I  am  broiled  meat," he  said.  "  Yes,  send  one  of  the 
girls.     Make  her  wash  first." 

Constantine  smiled. 

"There  speaks  Nicholas,"  he  remarked,  "who  is  al- 
ways right." 

So  Maria  was  sent  to  help  Mitsos.  She  was  a  pretty 
girl,  about  seventeen  years  old,  fawn  eyed  and  olive 
skinned.  As  she  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  press  before 
stepping  in,  with  her  shoes  off  and  her  skirt  tucked  up, 
Mitsos  found  himself  noticing  the  gentle  curve  of  her 
calf  muscle  from  the  ankle  to  behind  the  knee,  and  how 
prettily  one  foot,  pink  from  the  hot  water,  broadened 
as  she  rested  her  weight  on  it  for  a  moment.  He  gave 
her  his  hand  to  help  her  down  into  the  press,  and  their 
eyes  met. 

"  We  shall  do  nicely  now,"  he  said. 

Constantine  meantime  had  fetched  one  of  the  casks, 
open  at  the  top,  and  with  a  tap  at  the  bottom,  about  six 
inches  above  the  other  end,  from  which  the  fermented 
liquid  would  be  drawn  off  when  it  was  clear,  and  plac- 
ing it  under  the  sluice,  looked  over  to  see  if  the  must 
was  sufficiently  trodden.     No  baskets  had  come  in  for  a 

68 


THE    VINEYARD 

qnarter  of  an  hour,  and  Mitsos  and  Maria  between  them 
had  reduced  the  whole  must  to  one  consistency. 

''It  is  ready  now,"  he  said  to  Mitsos;  ''raise  the 
sluice." 

The  must  had  risen  above  the  ring  by  which  the  sluice 
was  raised  at  the  lower  end  of  the  press,  and  Mitsos  and 
Maria  groped  about  for  half  a  minute  or  so  before  they 
found  it.  Once  they  tightly  grasped  each  other's  fingers, 
and  both  exclaimed  triumphantly,  "  I've  got  it." 

Maria  found  it  first ;  but  the  wood  had  swollen  with 
the  scouring  of  the  day  before  and  it  was  stiff,  so  Mitsos 
had  to  raise  it  himself.  Then  with  a  gurgle  and  a  gulp 
the  purple  mass  of  pulp,  juice,  stalks,  and  skins  poured 
riotously  out,  splashing  Constantine,  and  foaming  into 
the  cask  with  a  lusty  noise.  When  it  was  three-quarters 
full  Mitsos  closed  the  sluice  again,  for  in  the  process  of 
fermentation  the  must  would  swell  to  the  top,  and  Con- 
stantine and  Spero  took  the  barrel,  clucking  as  it  was 
moved,  off  into  the  veranda  out  of  the  sun,  and  covered 
it  with  a  cloth. 

They  all  rested  for  an  hour  at  mid-day,  and  ate  their 
dinner  in  the  shade  of  the  poplar  by  the  spring.  The 
others  had  brought  their  food  with  them,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Maria,  who  said  she  was  not  hungry  and  did 
not  care  to  eat.  But  Mitsos,  pausing  for  a  moment  in 
his  own  meal,  saw  her  sitting  close  to  him  looking  rather 
tired  and  fagged  from  the  morning's  work,  and  fetched 
her  some  bread  and  some  fresh  cheese,  cool  and  sweet 
from  the  cellar,  and  Maria's  want  of  appetite  vanished 
before  these  things.  After  dinner  they  all  lay  down  and 
dozed  for  that  hour  of  fiercest  heat,  when,  as  the  poet  of 
the  South  says,  "  even  the  cicala  is  still,"  some  in  the 
veranda,  some  in  the  shade  of  the  poplars.  Mitsos  was 
the  first  to  wake,  and  he,  under  a  stern  sense  of  duty. 


THE    VINTAGE 

aroused  himself  and  the  others.  Maria  had  disposed 
herself  under  a  farther  tree,  where  she  lay  with  her  hands 
clasped  behind  her  head,  and  her  mouth  half  open  and 
set  with  the  rim  of  her  white  teeth.  She  had  drawn  up 
one  leg,  and  her  short  skirt  showed  it  bare  to  above  the 
knee.  Mitsos  stood  looking  at  her  a  moment,  thinking 
how  pretty  were  her  long  eyelashes  and  slightly  parted 
mouth,  and  wondering  why  it  had  never  occurred  to  him 
before  that  she  was  pretty,  when  she  woke  and  saw 
him  standing  in  front  of  her.  She  sat  up  quickly  and 
drew  her  skirt  down  over  her  leg,  and  a  faint  tinge  of 
red  showed  under  her  skin. 

"Is  it  time  to  go  on  ?"  she  said  ;  *'and  I  am  nothing 
but  a  bag  of  sleep." 

^'I  will  help  you  up,"  said  Mitsos,  putting  out  his 
hand. 

But  she  stretched  herself,  smiling,  and  got  up  without 
his  assistance. 

Tiien  the  work  went  on  till  nearly  sunset ;  a  second 
cask  and  a  third  were  filled,  which  were  taken  away  to 
the  veranda,  where  they  were  put  on  trestles  and  covered 
like  the  first ;  and,  as  there  would  not  be  time  to  fill  a 
fourth  before  sunset,  they  stopped  work  for  the  day. 

Mitsos  and  Constantine  ate  their  supper  together,  but 
afterwards  Mitsos  said  he  would  not  go  to  the  cafe  to- 
night, he  was  sleepy,  and  to-morrow  would  be  as  to- 
day. The  two  sat  there  in  silence  for  the  most  part,  the 
father  smoking  and  playing  with  his  beads,  and  Mitsos 
lying  full  length  on  the  floor  of  the  veranda  intermittent- 
ly eating  a  cherry  from  the  remains  of  their  supper. 

About  nine  he  got  up  and  stretched  himself. 

"I  am  for  bed,"  he  said.  '^IIow  pretty  Maria  is.  I 
wonder  why  I  never  noticed  before  that  girls  were  pretty." 

Constantine  smiled. 

79 


THE    VINEYARD 

"We  all  notice  it  sooner  or  later/'  he  said.  "I  no- 
ticed it  when  I  was  about  as  old  as  you/' 

''Did  you  ?     What  did  you  do  then  ?" 

"God  granted  me  to  marry  the  one  I  thought  the 
prettiest." 

"  My  mother  ?  It  is  little  I  remember  of  her.  But  I 
am  not  going  to  marry  Maria.  Yet  she  is  even  very 
pretty." 

The  second  day  was  devoted  to  picking  the  remainder 
of  the  ordinary  grapes,  which  Mitsos  and  Maria  trod,  as 
on  the  day  before,  and  Mitsos  feeling  a  desire — to  which 
he  had  hitherto  been  a  stranger — to  look  well  in  a  girl's 
eyes,  told  her  stories  about  the  shooting,  and  his  own 
prowess  therein — for  all  the  world  like  a  young  cock-bird 
in  spring  and  the  mating-time  strutting  before  his  lady. 
The  girls  were  not  required  for  the  third  day's  picking, 
and  in  the  evening  Constantine  paid  them  their  two  days' 
wage.  Mitsos  walked  back  with  Maria  through  the  gar- 
den, and  together  they  washed  their  feet  of  the  must  at 
the  spring.  A  little  further  on  they  came  to  the  cherry- 
tree,  and  here  he  told  her  to  hold  out  her  apron  while  he 
picked  a  little  supper  for  her,  again  taking  pride  to  swing 
himself  with  an  unnecessary  display  of  gymnastics  from 
one  bough  to  another,  while  Maria  looked  on  from  be- 
low with  up -turned  eyes  bidding  him  be  careful,  and 
saying,  as  was  indeed  true,  that  there  were  plenty  of 
cherries  on  the  lower  boughs,  and  his  exertions  were 
needless.  Something  in  his  conduct  seemed  to  amuse 
her,  for  as  they  said  good-night  at  the  gate  she  broke 
out  into  a  laugh,  and,  with  the  air  of  a  great,  fine  lady 
to  a  pretty  boy,  "Good-night,  little  Mitsos,"  she  said; 
"  and  will  you  come  to  my  wedding  ?" 

Mitsos,  in  spite  of  his  determination  of  the  night  be- 
fore, felt  a  perceptible  shock. 

71 


THE    VINTAGE 

*^  Your  wedding  ?    Whom  are  you  going  to  marry  ?" 

"  Yanko.  At  least,  so  I  think.  He  has  asked  me,  and 
I  have  not  said  no/' 

"  Yanko  Vlachos  ?     That  ugly  brute  ?" 

Maria  laughed  again. 

"^I  don't  find  him  ugly — at  least,  not  to  matter." 

Mitsos  recollected  his  manners. 

''I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said.  ^''I  like  Yanko  very 
much.  He  knocked  a  Turkish  soldier  down  last  week — 
such  a  bang  on  the  back  of  his  head  I" 

'^Oh,  he's  a  very  good  man,"  said  Maria,  walking  off 
with  a  great,  important  air. 

Mitsos  went  slowly  back  to  the  house,  his  strutting 
over. 

The  third  day  was  devoted  to  the  gathering  of  the  finer 
grapes,  which  were  fermented  by  themselves  in  a  sep- 
arate cask.  These  the  two  boys  and  Oonstantine  picked 
together,  until  all  the  trees  but  one  were  stripped,  but 
instead  of  throwing  them  in  stalk  and  all,  they  picked 
each  grape  separately  off  the  bunches  and  shed  them 
into  the  cask,  until  there  was  a  layer  some  fifteen  inches 
deep.  Mitsos  trod  these  as  before,  while  his  father  and 
Spero  went  on  picking,  and  when  they  were  sufficiently 
pulped  he  poured  on  to  them  about  a  quart  of  brandy. 
More  grapes  were  then  put  in,  trodden,  and  more  brandy 
added.  When  the  cask  was  three-quarters  full  they 
moved  it  away  with  the  others,  but  covered  it  more  close- 
ly with  two  layers  of  thick  woollen  blanket.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  fine  grapes  were  sufficient  to  fill  another 
half-cask. 

Then  there  came  the  final  act  of  the  grape-gathering, 
a  page  of  pagan  ritual  surviving  from  the  time  when  the 
rout  of  Dionysus  laughed  and  rioted  through  the  vine- 
yard.    Mitsos  fetched  a  big  bowl  from  the  house,  and 

73 


THE    VINEYAED 

Constantine  cut  all  the  grapes  from  the  remaining  vine. 
These  he  placed  in  the  bowl  and  left  in  the  middle  of  the 
vineyard  for  the  birds  to  eat. 

For  the  next  two  days  the  must  required  no  atten- 
tion, though  the  fermentation,  owing  to  the  heat  of  the 
weather,  was  going  on  very  rapidly,  and  by  the  end  of 
the  second  day  the  thin  acrid  smell  mingled  strongly  with 
the  garden  scents.  Once  or  twice  Constantine  raised  the 
cloths  which  covered  the  casks  to  see  what  progress  it 
made,  or  drew  a  little  from  the  tap  at  the  bottom.  But 
the  stuff  was  still  thick,  and  had  not  cleared  sufficiently 
to  be  disturbed  yet. 

On  the  second  day  Mitsos  went  off  to  get  fresh  resin 
for  the  wine.  The  ordinary  pine  resin  was  generally  used 
by  Greeks  for  this,  but  Constantine  always  preferred  the 
resin  from  the  dwarf  pine,  which  was  less  bitter  and  finer 
in  quality.  The  sides  of  Mount  Elias  were  plentiful  with 
the  common  pine,  but  the  dwarf  pine  only  grew  on  the 
hills  round  Epidaurus,  a  five  hours^  journey.  Mitsos 
took  his  gun  with  him  on  the  chance  of  sighting  and 
slaying  game,  and  started  off  on  his  pony  before  dawn, 
for  the  way  wound  over  low,  unsheltered  hills,  a  daylong 
target  for  the  sun ;  but  before  he  reached  the  shoulder 
of  mountain  in  which  was  cut  the  old  grass -grown 
theatre,  about  which  the  dwarf  pines  grew,  the  sun,  al- 
ready high,  had  drawn  up  the  heavy  dews  of  the  night 
before,  and  the  air  was  quivering  with  heat  like  a  man  in 
an  ague  fit.  The  growth  of  these  pines  was  that  of 
bushes  rather  than  trees,  some  of  them  covering  a  space 
of  ten  yards  square,  gnarl-trunked,  and  sprawling  along 
the  ground.  On  some  dozen  of  them  he  selected  a 
place  near  the  root  and  cut  off  a  piece  of  bark  a  few 
inches  square  in  order  that  the  resin  might  ooze  from 
the  lips  of  the  wounded  trunk,  placing  below  each  a  flat 

73 


THE    VINTAGE 

stone  to  catch  the  dripping.  In  a  few  days'  time  there 
would  be  sufficient  resin  collected  for  the  year's  wine.  On 
several  trees  he  found  the  incisions  he  had  made  in  pre- 
vious years,  in  some  of  which,  where  the  flow  of  resin  had 
continued  after  he  had  removed  it  for  the  wine,  it  had  gone 
on  dripping  until  a  little  pillar,  like  the  slag-wax  from  a 
candle,  stood  up  between  the  stone  and  the  tree.  He  cut 
off  one  of  these  to  see  whether  it  was  still  good,  but  the 
damp  had  soaked  into  it,  and  the  outside  surface  was  cov- 
ered with  a  gray  fungus  growth  which  rendered  it  useless. 

He  ate  his  dinner  under  shelter  of  the  more  shady 
trees  which  grew  higher  up  the  slope,  and  waited  till 
the  sun  had  lost  its  noonday  heat,  listening  lazily  to  the 
bell  on  the  neck  of  his  pony,  which  was  grazing  on  the 
hill-side  above,  dozing  and  wondering  what  the  next  year 
would  bring  for  him.  He  had  no  idea  what  Nicholas 
would  call  on  him  to  do,  but  he  was  willing  to  wait.  The 
love  of  adventure  and  excitement  was  fermenting  in  him, 
though  he  was  contented  to  go  on  living  his  usual  life 
from  day  to  day.  Nicholas,  he  knew,  would  not  fail ;  some 
day,  he  knew  not  when,  the  summons  would  come,  and  he 
would  obey  blindly.  Then  he  thought  of  the  horrible 
scene  which  Nicholas  and  he  had  looked  on  three  months 
ago,  when  they  saw  that  dead,  misshapen  thing  dangling 
from  a  tree,  and  his  blood  began  to  boil  and  the  desire 
to  avenge  the  wrongs  done  to  his  race  stirred  in  him. 

'^  Spare  not  man,  woman,  or  child,"  Nicholas  had  said. 

He  lay  back  on  the  short  turf  aud  began  to  tliink 
about  Maria.  Supposing  Maria  had  been  a  Turkish 
woman,  and  Nicholas  had  put  a  knife  into  his  hand 
while  he  was  looking  at  her  mid-day  sleep  beneath  the 
poplars,  and  told  him  to  kill  her,  would  he  have  been 
able  ?  Could  he  have  struck  anything  so  soft  and  pretty  ? 
Fancy  that  heavy  lout,  Yanko,  marrying  Maria ;  he  was 

74 


THE    VINEYARD 

all  fat,  and  sat  drinking  all  day  at  the  wine-shop,  yet  he 
was  never  drunk,  like  a  proper  man,  and  he  was  seldom 
sober.  Then  Mitsos  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  became 
analytical,  though  his  vocabulary  boasted  no  such  word. 
Why  was  it  that  since  the  day  he  stood  in  front  of  Maria 
as  she  lay  asleep  he  had  regarded  women  somehow  with 
different  eyes  ?  What  was  it  to  him  whether  Yanko  or 
another  had  her  ?  Hitherto  he  had  thought  of  women 
in  the  obvious,  work-a-day  light  in  which  they  are  pre- 
sented to  a  Greek  boy,  as  beasts  of  burden,  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water,  inferior  beings  who  waited 
on  the  men,  and  when  alone  chattered  shrilly  and  volu- 
bly to  each  other  like  jays,  or  a  bushful  of  silly,  jabber- 
ing sparrows — creatures  altogether  unfit  for  the  compan- 
ionship of  men.  But  since  that  moment  he  or  they  had 
changed ;  there  was  something  wonderful  about  them 
which  men  did  not  share,  something  demanding  protec- 
tion, even  tenderness,  affording  food  for  vague,  disquiet- 
ing thought.  He  had  not  understood  at  all,  not  having 
known  his  mother,  why  Nicholas  had  spoken  as  he  had 
of  his  wife,  except  in  so  far  that  she  was  a  possession  of 
which  the  Turks  had  robbed  him.  But  Mitsos  could 
think  of  nothing  the  loss  of  which  would  make  him 
devote  his  life  to  the  extermination  of  the  race  that  had 
robbed  him  of  it.  Even  if  the  Turks  took  away  his  gun 
he  realized  that  he  would  not  wish  to  destroy  the  whole 
race  for  that.  The  brutal  hanging  of  a  man  was  a  differ- 
ent matter ;  a  man  was  a  man,  and  a  woman —  Well, 
that  woman  was  Nicholas's  wife.  Suppose  the  Turks 
killed  Maria,  would  that  be  worse  than  if  they  killed, 
say,  Nicholas  ?  Well,  not  worse,  not  nearly  so  bad  in 
fact,  but,  somehow,  different. 

Thus  knocked  Mitsos  at  the  door  of  the  habitation 
called  love,  and  waited  for  its  sesame. 

75 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   SON'G   FROM   THE    DARKN'ESS 

Whe;n"  Constantine  looked  at  one  of  the  casks  of  fer- 
menting wine  on  the  fourth  day,  he  saw  that  the  crust 
of  skins,  stalks,  and  stones  had  risen  to  within  six  inches 
of  the  top,  like  coffee  on  the  boil,  and  was  thickly  cov- 
ered with  a  pink,  sour-smelling  froth.  The  fermentation 
was  at  its  height,  and  it  was  time  to  mix  up  the  crust 
with  the  fluid  again  to  excite  it  even  further.  In  one 
cask,  into  which  the  ripest  fruit  from  the  more  sun- 
baked corner  of  the  vineyard  had  been  put,  this  crust 
had  risen  even  higher,  and  threatened  to  overflow.  The 
ordinary  custom  in  Greece  at  this  time  was  for  a  naked 
man  to  get  into  the  cask  and  stir  it  up  again,  a  remnant, 
no  doubt,  of  some  now  insignificant  superstition  ;  but 
Constantine,  though  he  still  put  the  grapes  of  one  vine 
in  a  bowl  for  the  birds  to  eat,  did  not  think  it  nec- 
essary to  make  this  further  concession,  but  only  stirred 
up  the  frothing  mass  with  an  instrument  like  a  wooden 
pavier.  The  crust  was  already  growing  thick  and  com- 
pacted, and  it  was  ten  minutes'  work  to  get  it  thorough- 
ly mixed  up  again  with  the  fluid  in  each  case,  and  from 
the  seething,  bubbling  surface  there  rose  thickly  the 
sour  fumes  of  the  decomposing  matter,  heavily  laden 
with  carbonic-acid  gas.  One  cask  leaked  slightly  round 
the  tap  at  the  bottom  and  was  dripping  on  the  floor.  A 
little  red  stream  had  trickled  down  to  the  edge  of  the 

76 


THE    VINEYARD 

veranda,  and  he  noticed  that  it  was  full  of  small  bubbles, 
like  water  that  had  stood  in  the  sun,  showing  that  the 
fermentation  was  not  yet  over.  He  caulked  this  up  with 
a  lump  of  resin,  and  then  moved  all  the  casks  out  of  the 
shade  for  an  hour  or  two,  so  that  the  heat  might  hasten 
the  second  fermentation,  which  naturally  was  slower  and 
less  violent  than  the  first.  The  cask  and  a  half  of  fine 
wine,  however,  he  did  not  touch ;  there  it  was  better 
that  the  fermentation  should  go  on  slowly  and  naturally. 

That  evening  Mitsos  went  out  fishing,  as  the  work  of 
wine-making  was  over  for  the  present.  In  four  or  five 
days  he  would  have  to  go  over  to  Epidaurus  to  get  the 
resin  from  the  pine-trees,  but  just  now  there  was  noth- 
ing more  to  be  done.  Later  on  the  vines  would  have  to 
be  cut  back,  but  Constantino  preferred  delaying  this  till 
the  leaves  fell  and  the  sap  had  sunk  back  again  into  the 
roots  and  main  stem. 

Though  the  day  was  one  of  early  autumn,  and  in  most 
years  the  serenity  of  summer  would  continue  into  the 
middle  or  end  of  October,  the  top  of  the  hills  above  the 
farther  side  of  the  gulf  had  been  shrouded  all  day  in 
~^  thick  storm-boding  clouds,  and  as  sunset  drew  near  these 
spread  eastward,  making  a  sullen  sky.  The  sun,  as  it 
dropped  behind  them,  illumined  their  edges,  turning 
them  to  a  dark  translucent  amber,  and  the  afterglow, 
which  spread  slowly  across  the  heavens,  cast  a  strange 
lurid  light  through  the  half  opaque  floor  of  cloud.  The 
night  would  soon  fall  dark,  perhaps  with  storm.  It  was 
very  hot,  and  the  land  breeze  was  but  a  languid  air,  and 
blew  as  if  weary  with  its  travel  over  the  broiling  plain, 
but  there  was  quite  enough  of  it,  with  Mitsos'  economical 
methods,  to  send  the  boat  along  at  a  good  pace.  He 
sailed  almost  before  it  out  seaward  for  two  miles  or  so, 
meaning  to  fish  from  the  island,  but  then  changed  his 

77 


THE    VINTAGE 

mind,  and  went  back  on  tedious  tacks  to  the  head  of  the 
bay,  the  water  seeming  to  him  a  thick  thing,  and  the 
boat  going  but  heavily.  Dark  fell,  dense  and  premature, 
and  when  an  hour  later  he  put  the  boat  about  on  the  last 
tack  he  had  to  keep  two  eyes  open  as  he  neared  the  land  ; 
but  as  there  were  no  other  boats  abroad,  he  did  not  think 
it  necessary  to  light  his  lantern  at  the  bows.  Against 
the  dark  sky  and  the  dark  water  it  would  hardly  have 
been  possible  to  see  the  brown -sailed  craft  from  more 
than  forty  yards  distant,  and  even  then,  if  the  thin  white 
line  of  broken  water  at  the  forefoot  had  not  caught  the 
eye,  or  the  stealthy,  subdued  hiss  as  it  cut  through  the 
sea  fallen  on  the  ear,  it  might  have  passed  close  and  un- 
noticed. Then,  with  a  curious  suddenness,  he  saw  faint- 
ly the  white  glimmer  of  the  sea-wall  of  Abdul  Achmet's 
house  straight  in  front  of  him,  and  knew  that  in  the 
dead  darkness  he  had  taken  too  starboard  a  course.  How- 
ever, by  running  up  as  close  as  possible  to  this,  one  tack 
more  would  certainly  take  him  across  to  the  fishing  bay 
where  he  was  bound,  and  sitting  rudder  in  hand,  he 
waited  till  the  last  possible  moment  before  putting  about. 
He  had,  however,  forgotten  that  the  wall  would  take  the 
wind  from  him,  and  when  he  was  about  fifty  yards  off, 
the  sail  flapped  once  and  fell  dead  against  the  mast,  and 
the  boom  swung  straight,  the  line  of  white  water  faded 
from  under  the  forefoot,  and  the  hiss  of  the  motion  was 
quenched.  He  got  up  for  an  oar,  so  as  to  pull  her  round 
again,  when  quite  suddenly  he  heard  the  sound  of  a 
woman's  voice  from  the  terrace  singing.  For  a  moment 
or  so  he  stood  still,  and  then  his  ear  focussed  itself  to 
the  sounds.  She  was  singing  a  song  Mitsos  knew  well, 
a  song  which  the  vine-tenders  sing  as  they  are  digging 
the  vines  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  she  sang  in 
Greek : 

78 


THE    VINEYARD 

"Dig  we  deep  around  the  vines, 

Give  the  sweet  spring  showers  a  home, 

Else  tlie  fairest  sun  that  shines 

Sends' no  sparkle  to  our  wines, 
Lights  no  lustre  in  the  foam," 

He  could  not  see  the  singer ;  all  he  saw  was  the  circle 
of  black  night,  the  faint  lines  of  his  boat  a  shade  blacker 
against  it,  and  just  ahead  the  white  glimmer  of  the  wall. 
The  voice,  low  and  sweet,  came  out  of  the  darkness  like 
a  bird  flying  through  a  desert — a  living  thing  amid  death. 
Mitsos  stood  perfectly  still,  strangely  and  bewilderingly 
excited.  Then  he  took  up  his  oar  and  turned  the  boat's 
head  round,  rowed  a  few  strokes  out,  and  waited  again. 
But  the  voice  had  ceased. 

He  felt  somehow  unaccountably  shy,  as  if  he  had  in- 
truded into  another's  privacy ;  but  having  intruded,  he 
was  determined  to  make  his  presence  known.  So  just 
as  the  sail  caught  the  wind  again  he  stood  up  in  the 
stern,  and  in  his  boyish  voice  answered  the  unseen  singer 
with  the  second  verse  : 

"  Dig  we  deep,  the  summer's  here ; 

Saw  we  not  among  the  eaves 
Summer's  messenger  appear. 
Swallows  flitting  here  and  there. 

Through  the  budding  almond  leaves  ?" 

The  boat  bent  over  to  the  wind,  the  white  line  streaked 
the  water,  and  he  hissed  off  into  the  night  again. 

He  sat  down,  let  go  of  the  tiller,  and  let  the  boat  run 
on  by  itself.  He  had  never  known  that  that  common 
country  song  was  beautiful  till  he  had  heard  a  voice  out 
of  the  darkness  sing  it — a  voice  low,  sweet,  soft,  which 
might  have  been  the  darkness  itself  made  audible.  AYho 
was  this  woman  ?    How  did  she,  a  Greek,  come  to  be  iij 

79 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  house  of  a  Turk  ?  Then  with  a  flash  of  awakened 
memory  he  brought  to  mind  the  evening  when  he  and 
Nicholas  had  sailed  home  after  fishing ;  how  a  man  came 
up  and  struck  a  woman  who  was  leaning  on  the  sea-wall ; 
how  she  had  cried  out  and  said,  in  Greek,  "^'What  was 
that  for  r 

The  flapping  of  the  sail  in  the  last  breath  of  the  wind 
roused  him  and  he  looked  up  ;  the  breeze  had  died  out, 
and  he  was  floating  in  the  middle  of  a  shell  of  blackness. 
He  had  no  idea  where  he  was  until  he  saw  the  lights  of 
Nauplia,  where  he  least  expected  them,  on  the  left  of  the 
boat  instead  of  behind  him,  dim,  and  far  away.  For  his 
craft,  left  to  itself,  had  of  course  run  straight  before  the 
land-breeze  out  into  the  mouth  of  the  gulf,  and  now  the 
breeze  had  died  out  and  he  was  miles  from  the  land. 
That  did  not  trouble  him  much  ;  fishing  was  a  minor 
consideration,  and  spending  the  night  in  the  boat  was 
paid  for  by  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders.  He  wanted  one 
thing  only — to  get  back  to  the  white  glimmering  wall, 
to  the  voice  from  the  darkness. 

A  puff  of  hot  air  wandered  by  the  boat,  the  sails  shiv- 
ered for  a  moment  and  were  still  again.  A  veiled  flash 
of  lightning  gleamed  through  the  clouds  over  the  Tripoli 
hills  and  was  reflected  sombrely  across  the  sky,  and  a  peal 
of  thunder  droned  a  tardy  answer.  A  faint  rim  of  light, 
like  the  raising  of  tired  eyelids,  opened  over  the  sea,  and 
he  saw  the  ropes  of  his  boat  stand  out  sharp  against  it. 
Then,  suddenly,  there  came  from  the  hills  a  sound  he 
knew,  and  knew  to  be  dangerous — the  shrill  scream  of 
a  mountain  squall  from  the  highlands  to  the  west  of  the 
gulf.  He  sprang  to  the  ropes  and  had  the  sail  down  just 
before  it  struck  him,  but  in  less  than  a  minute  the  bows 
were  driven  round,  and  the  white  tops  of  little  waves 
began  to  fleck  the  bay.     He  felt  the  salt  spray  on  his 

80 


THE    VINEYAKD 

face  and  hands,  and  laughed  exultantly.  This  was  what 
he  wanted. 

With  a  joy  in  the  danger  of  the  thing  he  hoisted  the 
sail,  struggling  and  pulling  to  be  free,  and  in  a  moment 
he  was  tearing  back  straight  to  the  head  of  the  gulf,  with 
the  rudder  pushed  hard  a-port. 

At  the  pace  he  was  going  the  boat  was  quite  steady, 
cutting  through  the  waves  instead  of  rising  to  them,  and 
now  and  then  one  was  flung  over  the  bows  like  a  white 
rag.  The  wind  screamed,  the  white  snakes  of  foam  flew 
by,  and,  bareheaded,  Mitsos  clung  with  both  hands  to 
his  rudder,  controlling  the  course  of  the  boat  like  the 
rider  of  a  restive  horse,  laughing  to  himself  for  some 
secret  glee,  and  every  now  and  then  shouting  out  a  verse 
of  the  vine-diggers'  song.  Before  long  the  wall  appeared 
again,  and  he  took  in  his  sail ;  the  water  was  already 
rough,  and  was  dashing  up  against  it ;  but  he  let  the 
boat  drift  on  till  he  was  within  thirty  yards  of  it.  The 
rim  of  light  over  the  sea  had  widened,  and  he  could  see 
the  edge  of  the  top  of  the  wall  quite  distinctly,  and,  be- 
hind, the  tall  sombre  cypresses  in  rows.  But  there  was 
no  one  there. 

Just  then  the  rain  began  hissing  into  the  sea  like  shot, 
and  for  a  few  minutes  turning  the  whole  surface  milky 
white.  Mitsos,  frowning  and  peering  awhile  into  the 
darkness,  put  up  his  collar,  and  with  some  difiiculty 
proceeded  to  put  about.  The  wind  was  blowing  hard 
ashore,  and  he  had  to  take  down  the  sail  altogether  and 
row.  Even  then  he  seemed  hardly  to  be  making  way 
against  the  maddened  air,  and  it  was  a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  hard  work  to  get  far  enough  from  the  shore  to 
sail  again.  Then  he  fetched  a  long  tack  towards  Nau- 
plia,  and  from  there  managed  to  handle  the  boat  back 
F  81 


THE    VINTAGE 

opposite  the  shore  where  his  house  stood.  The  surf  was 
breaking  nastily  on  the  rock  -  ridden  beach,  and  he  had 
to  get  through  a  narrow  channel,  both  sides  of  which 
were  shoal  water,  not  sufficiently  deep  to  allow  the  boat 
to  pass.  But  he  had  the  light  from  his  own  house  and 
that  from  the  cafe  opposite  to  steer  by,  and  he  knew 
that  he  could  run  in  when  they  were  in  a  line.  As  he 
neared  the  shore  he  could  see  it  was  impossible  to  bring 
the  boat  round  sharply  enough,  and  while  there  was  yet 
time  he  beat  out  again  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  and  ap- 
proached it  more  directly.  This  time  he  was  successful, 
and  the  boat  skimmed  past  the  tumbled  water  on  each 
side — and  as  he  passed  he  saw  sharp-toothed  rocks  foam- 
ing and  gnashing  at  him — safe  into  the  smoother  water 
of  his  anchorage.  Constantino  was  waiting  up  for  him, 
and  when  his  tall  figure  appeared  in  the  doorway,  he 
looked  up  with  relief. 

^'  Mitsos,  you  shouldn^t  sail  on  nights  like  these, '^  he 
said;  "the  best  seamen  in  the  world  might  not  be  able 
to  handle  a  boat  in  such  a  squall.     How  did  you  get  in  ?" 

"  It^s  easy  enough  when  you  get  the  lights  from  the 
house  and  the  cafe  in  a  line,"  said  Mitsos;  "besides,  I 
was  six  miles  out  in  the  bay  when  the  squall  came  down." 

"  Six  miles  out  ?  You  have  not  been  long  getting 
back,"  said  his  father,  marvelling  at  the  lad's  knowledge. 

Mitsos  walked  to  the  door  to  close  it,  turning  his  back 
on  Constantino. 

"  No,  there  was  a  fine  wind  to  sail  on,"  he  said,  and 
whistled  the  vine-diggers'  song  beneath  his  breath. 

Constantino  did  not  ask  any  more  questions,  and  Mit- 
sos went  to  make  himself  some  hot  coffee  and  get  out  of 
his  wet  clothes,  for  he  was  drenched  from  head  to  foot. 

Two  days  after  this  the  ordinary  wine  had  cleared 
completely,  and  it  was  racked  into  fresh  casks,  for  if  it 


THE    VINEYAKD 

stood  too  long  on  the  lees  in  contact  with  the  skins  and 
stalks  it  would  become  bitter.  The  crust  itself  Constan- 
tine  removed  from  all  the  barrels  and  put  into  the  still 
for  the  making  of  spirits.  This  only  required  one  man 
to  look  after,  and  on  the  day  Mitsos  went  to  Epidaurus 
to  get  the  resin  he  employed  himself  with  it. 

The  apparatus  was  of  the  simplest.  He  placed  all  the 
crusts  from  the  barrels  in  a  big  iron  pot,  under  which 
he  lit  a  slow  charcoal  fire ;  into  a  hole  in  the  lid  of  this, 
which  screwed  on  to  the  body,  he  inserted  a  bent  iron 
pipe,  on  to  which  he  screwed  another  pipe  made  in  spi- 
rals. A  big  wooden  tub  filled  with  water,  through  the 
bottom  of  which  passed  a  third  pipe  fitting  at  one  end 
into  the  spirals  which  lay  in  the  water,  and  communi- 
cating at  the  other  with  the  glazed  Jar  into  which  the 
spirit  was  to  be  stored,  completed  the  apparatus.  The 
fire  drove  off  the  alcohol  from  the  fermented  crust  in 
a  vapor,  which  distilled  itself  into  spirit  as  it  passed 
through  the  tube  that  lay  in  the  cold  water,  and  dripped 
out  at  the  farther  end  into  the  jar. 

He  finished  the  day's  work  by  soon  after  five,  and, 
having  business  in  Nauplia,  set  off  there  at  once  ;  so 
that  Mitsos,  returning  a  little  later  from  Epidaurus  with 
the  resin,  found  him  out,  and,  without  waiting  to  get 
any  food,  he  set  off  again  at  once  down  to  the  bay. 

It  was  drawing  near  that  moment  when  all  the  beauty 
of  the  day  in  sea,  land,  and  sky  is  gathered  into  the  ten 
minutes  of  sunset.  The  sun,  declining  to  its  setting, 
was  dropping  slowly  above  a  low  pass  in  the  hills,  shining 
with  an  exceeding  clearness,  and  it  was  still  half  an  hour 
above  the  horizon  when  Mitsos  got  into  the  boat.  The 
land-breeze  was  blowing  temperate  and  firm,  and  his  boat 
dipped  to  it  gently,  and  glided  steadily  on  the  outward 
tack.     Between  him  and  the  Argive  hills  hung  a  palpa- 

83 


THE    VINTAGE 

ble  haze  of  thinnest  blue  ;  but  the  whole  plain  slept  in 
a  garment  of  gold,  woven  by  the  level  rays.  The  surface 
of  the  water,  unruffled  under  the  shadow  of  the  land, 
was  green  and  burnished  like  a  plate  of  patinated  bronze, 
and  the  ripple  from  the  bows  broke  creamily  and  flowed 
out  behind  the  boat  in  long,  feather-like  lines.  As  the 
sun  neared  its  setting,  the  golden  mist  grew  more  intense 
in  color,  and  the  higher  slopes  of  the  mountains  turned 
pink  behind  their  veil  of  blue.  The  sky  was  cloudless 
from  rim  to  rim,  except  where,  low  in  the  west,  there 
floate^d  a  fe^^  thin  skeins  of  vapor,  visible  against  the 
incred^le  blue  only  because  they  were  touched  with 
red.  Just  as  Mitsos  neared  the  wall  on  his  second 
tack  the  sun^s  edge  was  cut  by  the  ragged  outline  of 
the  mountain,  and  in  ten  minutes  more  it  would  have 
set. 

She,  the  nameless,  ineffable  she  —  and  Mitsos  never 
questioned  that  this  was  the  sweet  singer — was  leaning 
on  the  edge  of  the  wall  looking  seawards.  She  saw 
Mitsos  sitting  in  the  stern  of  his  boat,  and  guessed  at 
once — for  few  boats  passed  so  close — that  it  was  he  who 
had  sung  the  second  verse  of  the  vineyard  song  two 
nights  ago,  and  that  it  was  his  boat  which  passed  close 
under  the  wall  last  night,  when  the  other  women  of  the 
harem  were  there  with  her.  She  had  not  known  till  she 
saw  him  that  she  wished  to  see  the  owner  of  that  half- 
formed  boyish  voice,  which  had  come  so  pleasantly  out 
of  the  darkness;  and  now,  when  she  did  not  see  him, 
she  looked  long.  He,  too,  was  looking,  and  her  eyes 
made  a  bridge  over  the  golden  air  that  lay  between  them 
and  brought  them  close  together. 

The  boat  drew  nearer,  and  she  dropped  her  eyes  and 
began  playing  with  a  spray  of  roses  that  trailed  along 
the  top  of  the  wall.     She  picked  a  couple  of  buds,  smell- 

84 


THE    VINEYARD 

ed  them,  and  then  very  softly  she  began  the  first  verse 
of  the  vine-diggers'  song. 

The  boat  had  got  under  shelter  of  the  wall,  and  drift- 
ed windlessly  near.  Mitsos  was  still  looking  at  her ;  her 
eyes  were  still  cast  down.  She  sang  the  first  verse 
through,  and  the  first  two  lines  of  the  second  verse,  and 
then  apparently  she  recollected  no  more,  for  she  stopped, 
and  from  the  boat  Mitsos  sang  very  softly  the  two  lines 
that  followed.  Still,  without  looking  up,  she  sang  them 
after  him  ;  he  finished  the  verse,  and  she  sang  the  whole 
through. 

From  the  bay  the  sun  had  set,  but  the  mountains  on 
the  east  glowed  rosier  and  rosier  every  moment.  All 
that  Mitsos  saw  was  a  girFs  slender  figure  wrapped  in  a 
loose  white  cloak,  with  a  gold  band  round  the  waist — 
a  hand  that  held  two  rosebuds,  a  face  veiled  up  to  the 
eyes,  eyes  down  -  dropped,  and  eyelashes  that  swept  the 
cheek. 

''  There  is  a  third  verse,"  he  said. 

Then  she  looked  up,  and  her  eyes  smiled  at  him,  and 
they  were  as  black  as  shadows  beneath  the  moon. 

"  I  will  learn  that  another  night,"  she  said,  softly, 
"  if  it  be  you  will  teach  me  ;  and  this  is  for  your  teach- 
ing.    Go,  now  ;  others  are  coming." 

Half  carelessly  she  threw  into  the  boat  the  roses  she 
had  picked,  and  turned  away. 

Mitsos  waited  a  moment  longer,  and  then,  hearing 
voices  in  the  garden  behind  the  wall,  rowed  quickly 
away.  His  thoughts  were  a  song ;  his  mind,  one  sweet 
secret  frenzy,  that  made  the  heart  quick  and  the  eye 
bright.  All  the  common  details  of  life  were  seen  and 
taken  in  by  him  but  dimly,  as  sounds  come  dimly  to  a 
sleeper,  and  are  but  the  material  out  of  which  he  weaves 
a  golden  vision  ;  for  the  first  splendor  of  love,  hackney- 

85 


THE    VINTAGE 

ed  as  a  theme,  but  as  au  experience  from  generation  to 
generation  ever  new,  was  dawning  on  him. 

Maria  was  married  next  morning,  and  Mitsos  went 
without  emotion  to  the  wedding.  The  bride  and  bride- 
groom appeared  to  him  to  be  admirably  suited  to  each 
other. 

About  four  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  lad  was  just 
about  to  set  off  down  to  the  shore  when  his  father  ap- 
peared. 

''  We'll  finish  with  the  wine  this  evening,"  he  said, 
**Come  and  begin  at  once,  Mitsos.^' 

Mitsos  paused  a  moment. 

'^  I  was  just  going  sailing,"  he  said.  "  Cannot  it  wait 
till  to-morrow  ?" 

'^  No ;  it  had  better  be  finished  now.  Besides,  you  can 
sail  afterwards.    Come,  it  won't  take  a  couple  of  hours." 

'^ Uncle  Nicholas  told  me  to  sail  every  day,"  he  be- 
gan. 

'*  And  to  obey  me,  Mitsos." 

Mitsos  stood  for  a  moment  irresolute,  but  soon  his 
habit  of  obedience  reasserted  itself. 

'^  Yes,  father,"  he  said  ;  ^^  I  am  sorry.     I  will  come." 

The  casks  in  which  the  first  fermentation  had  taken 
place  had  been  thoroughly  scoured  with  boiling  water, 
which  had  quite  got  rid  of  the  sour-smelling  fermented 
stuff,  and  they  were  to  rack  the  cleared  resinated  wine 
back  into  them.  They  filled  each  cask  again  three- 
quarters  full,  and  into  the  remaining  space  they  poured 
a  portion  of  the  fine  wine,  dividing  it  equally  among  all. 
To  Mitsos  the  process  seemed  insufferably  long  and  te- 
dious. The  sun  had  set  before  the  casks  were  filled,  and 
it  was  dark  before  the  work  was  over.  Never  before,  it 
seemed  to  him,  had  the  taps  dribbled  so  dispiritingly. 


THE    VINEYARD 

His  father  now  and  then  addressed  some  remark  to  him, 
which  he  barely  answered,  and  after  a  time  they  both 
lapsed  into  silence.  Mitsos  knew  that  he  was  behaving 
badly,  and  he  thought  he  could  not  help  it.  Perhaps 
she  was  there ;  perhaps — bewildering  thought — she  was 
even  wondering  why  he  did  not  come.  How  could  he 
simulate  the  slightest  interest  in  the  wine  of  grapes  when 
the  wine  of  love  was  fermenting  within  him,  driving  him 
mad  with  those  sweet,  intoxicating  fumes  for  which  there 
is  no  amethyst  ? 

At  last  it  was  over.  No,  he  would  not  eat  now ;  he 
would  eat  when  he  came  in,  and  ten  minutes  later  he 
was  on  his  way.  Soon  the  wall  began  to  glimmer  in  front 
of  him.  Something,  it  looked  only  like  a  white  shadow, 
was  leaning  on  it,  and  as  he  drew  nearer  he  heard  again 
the  voice  singing  low  in  the  darkness,  singing  the  com- 
mon country  song  which  had  become  so  beautiful. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    PORT    DUES    OF    CORIJTTH 

Nicholas  got  safely  across  to  Corinth  early  in  the 
morning  after  he  had  parted  from  Mitsos,  but  was  obliged 
to  wait  there  two  days  for  a  caique  to  take  him  to  Patras. 
The  revolution  for  which  the  leading  G-reeks  throughout 
the  Peloponnese  were  preparing  was  there  in  the  hands 
of  the  Archbishop  Germanos.  Like  Nicholas,  he  too 
had  felt  the  cruel  appetites  of  the  Turk,  and,  like  Nich- 
olas, he  was  willing  to  leave  revenge  unplucked  until  the 
whole  scheme  was  ripe  to  the  core.  An  agent  of  his  had 
met  the  latter  at  Corinth,  bidding  him  come,  if  he  had  a 
few  days  to  spare,  at  once  ;  if  not,  as  soon  as  he  could. 
But  as  Nicholas  had  left  Nauplia  with  the  idea  of  pro- 
ceeding to  Patras  at  once,  he  sent  the  messenger  back, 
saying  he  was  on  his  way,  but  that  for  greater  security 
he  would  come  by  sea.  That  he  was  suspected  of  being 
concerned  in  intrigue  against  the  Turk  he  knew,  and  as 
his  plans  were  now  already  beginning  to  be  thoroughly 
organized,  and  the  club  had  made  him  their  principal 
agent  in  the  Morea,  he  wished  to  avoid  any  needless  risk 
in  passing  through  the  garrisoned  towns  on  the  gulf. 

On  the  second  day,  however,  a  Greek  caique  laden 
with  figs  was  starting  from  Corinth,  and  Nicholas  went 
on  board  soon  after  dark,  and  about  midnight  they 
started. 

For  a  few  hours  an  easterly  breeze  drew  up  from  the 


THE   VINEYARD 

narrow  end  of  the  gulf,  but  it  slackened  and  dropped  be- 
tween three  and  four  in  the  morning,  and  daylight  found 
them  becalmed,  with  slack  sails,  some  eight  miles  out  to 
sea,  and  nearly  opposite  Itea.  To  the  north  the  top  of 
Parnassus  wore  morning  on  its  face,  and  stood  high 
above  them  rose -flushed  with  dawn,  while  they  still  lay 
on  a  dark,  polished  plain  of  water  as  smooth  as  glass.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  gulf,  but  farther  ahead,  Cyllene 
and  Helmos,  on  the  north  side  of  which  last  winter's 
snow  still  lay  heraldically  in  bars  and  bezants,  had  also 
caught  the  light,  which,  as  the  sun  rose  higher,  flowed 
like  some  luminous  liquid  down  their  slopes,  wooded 
below  with  great  pine  forests. 

Nicholas  had  pillowed  himself  on  the  deck,  and  woke 
when  the  sun  had  risen  high  enough  to  touch  the  caique. 
The  captain  and  owner  of  the  boat,  who  had  been  all 
night  in  the  little  close  cabin  below,  came  up  as  he 
roused  himself  and  sat  down  near  him. 

"  The  wind  has  dropped  altogether,"  he  said ;  ''  we 
may  be  here  for  hours.    Are  you  in  a  hurry  to  get  on  ?" 

Nicholas  filled  his  pipe  very  carefully. 

'^I  am  never  in  a  hurry,"  he  said,  *'if  I  am  going  as 
quick  as  I  can.  I  would  make  a  wind  if  I  could,  but 
I  cannot,  and  so  I  am  content  to  wait.  If  swearing 
would  do  any  good  I  would  even  swear,  but  I  find  it  has 
no  effect  on  the  elements.  You  have  a  good  heavy 
cargo." 

''A  good,  heavy  cargo  ?"  said  the  man.  *'  Yes,  and  Ave 
should  have  a  dipping  gunwale  if  those  devils  had  not 
seized  six  crates  of  figs  at  Corinth." 

"The  Turks  ?"  asked  Nicholas. 

"Who  else  ?  Port  dues,  they  call  them.  Much  of  a 
port  is  Corinth — a  heap  of  stones  tumbled  into  the  water, 
and  five  rickety  steps." 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  Harbor  dues  !  They  are  a  new  institution,  are  they 
not  r 

"A  month  old  only,"  said  the  man;  ''but  if  I  hear 
right  they  will  not  be  very  much  older  when  they  are 
taken  off  again." 

"  Taken  off  ?    How  is  that  ?"  asked  Nicholas,  blandly. 

''  They  say  there  will  soon  be  a  great  cutting  of  the 
swines'  throats.  I  spend  my  life  on  the  sea,  and  for  the 
most  part  my  ears  are  empty  of  news  ;  but  surely  you 
know  what  was  being  said  at  Corinth  ? — that  before  a 
year  is  out  we  Greeks  shall  not  have  these  masters  any 
longer." 

One  of  the  crew  was  standing  near,  and  the  captain 
motioned  him  to  go  farther  off. 

''I  do  not  like  to  say  this  before  my  own  men,"  he 
said;  "but  why  should  I  not  tell  you  ?  You  will  be 
landed  at  Patras,  and  you  will  go  your  way  and  I  mine. 
Besides,  for  all  your  Turkish  clothes  you  are  no  Turk, 
for  they  are  a  short-legged  folk.  I  heard  it  at  the  cafe 
last  night.  Four  Turks  were  talking  about  the  arms 
which  they  say  the  peasants  are  collecting,  They  spoke 
of  one  Nicholas  Vidalis  as  a  leader — they  expected  to 
take  him,  for  word  had  come  to  them  that  he  was  travel- 
ling to  Corinth." 

"Thus  there  are  disappointed  men,"  thought  Nicholas. 
Then  aloud,  "Who  is  this  Nicholas  ?" 

"Nay,  I  know  him  not,"  said  the  man.  "  I  am  from 
the  islands.  I  thought  it  might  be  you  could  tell  me  of 
him." 

"  From  which  island  ?"  asked  Nicholas. 

"From  Psara." 

Nicholas  lit  his  pipe  with  a  lump  of  charcoal  and  in- 
haled a  couple  of  long  breaths,  silent,  but  with  a  matter 
in  balance. 

90 


THE    VINEYAKD 

Then,  looking  straight  at  the  man,  he  said : 

"I  am  Nicholas  Vidalis,  the  man  whom  the  Turks 
would  dearly  like  to  catch.  But  at  present  they  catch 
me  not,  for  I  am  a  clean  and  God  -  fearing  man,  and  I 
hate  the  Turk  even  as  I  hate  the  devil,  for  the  two  are 
one.  And  now  there  are  two  ways  open  to  you — one  is 
to  give  me  up  at  Patras,  the  other  to  try  to  help  me  and 
others  in  what  we  are  doing.  For  this  will  be  no  time 
for  saying  '  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  this ;  let  those 
who  will  fight  it  out.'  You  will  have  to  take  one  side, 
and  you  had  better  begin  at  once.  See,  I  have  trusted 
you  with  my  secret,  because  you  may  be  of  use  to  me. 
You  come  from  Psara,  and  you  probably  know  the  coast 
of  Greece  as  a  man  knows  the  shape  of  his  boots  and 
gaiters.  We  have  got  plenty  of  men  to  fight  on  land, 
and  plenty  to  pay  them  with ;  what  we  want  are  lit- 
tle ships,  which,  in  case  of  need,  will  hang  about  the 
Turks  if  they  try  to  escape  from  their  destruction,  and 
sting  them  as  the  mosquito  stings  the  slow  cattle  in  the 
evening." 

Nicholas  paused  for  a  moment,  and  his  face  lit  up  with 
a  blaze  of  hatred. 

*'For  it  is  already  evening  with  them,"  he  cried,  "and 
when  the  day  dawns  night  shall  have  swallowed  them, 
and  they  will  awake  no  more.  Do  you  know  what  is  the 
strongest  feeling  that  ever  grips  a  man's  heart  ?  No, 
not  love,  nor  yet  fear,  but  revenge.  And  if  you  had  suf- 
fered as  I  have  suffered  you  would  know  what  it  is  to 
be  filled  with  one  thought  only — to  see  blood  in  the  sun- 
rise and  blood  in  the  setting  of  the  sun ;  to  feel  that  you 
have  ceased  to  be  a  man  and  have  become  a  sword.  That 
is  what  I  am,  and  the  hand  that  holds  me  is  the  right 
hand  of  God.  And  by  me  He  will  smite  and  spare  not. 
And  when  there  are  no  more  to  smite,  perhaps  I  shall 

91 


THE    VINTAGE 

become  a  man  again,  and  live  to  see  peace  and  plenty 
bless  a  free  people.  But  of  that  I  know  nothing,  and  I 
do  not  greatly  care.  Come,  now,  what  answer  do  you 
give  me  ?" 

Nicholas  rose  to  his  feet ;  the  other  had  risen  too,  and 
they  faced  each  other.  There  was  something  in  the 
earnestness  and  intensity  of  this  man  with  one  idea 
which  could  not  but  be  felt,  for  enthusiasm  is  the  one 
fact  that  cannot  be  gainsaid,  a  noble  disease  in  which 
contagion  ever  makes  infection.  And  his  companion 
felt  it. 

''Tell  me  more,"'  he  said,  eagerly;  ''but  wait  a  mo- 
ment— here  is  the  wind." 

He  hurried  aft  to  give  orders  to  the  men.  Far  away 
on  the  polished  surface  of  the  water  behind  them, 
smooth  and  shining  as  a  sealskin,  a  line  had  appeared  as 
if  the  fur  had  been  stroked  the  wrong  way.  In  a  couple 
of  minutes  the  men  were  busy  with  the  ropes,  and  two 
stood  ready  to  slacken  the  sheets  of  the  heavy  square 
sail  if  the  squall  was  violent,  and  one  stood  at  the  tiller, 
for  some  cross-current  had  turned  the  boat  round,  and 
it  would  be  necessary  to  put  about.  Meantime  the  rough 
line  had  crept  nearer,  and  behind  it  they  could  see  the 
tops  of  little  waves  cut  off  by  the  wind  and  blown  about 
in  spray.  A  couple  of  men  had  put  out  the  long  sweep- 
oars,  and  were  tugging  hurriedly  at  them  to  get  the  head 
of  the  boat  straight  before  the  wind  before  it  struck 
them.  But  they  were  not  in  time  ;  the  wind  came  down 
with  a  scream,  the  boat  heeled  over  till  the  leeward  gun- 
wale touched  the  water,  and  the  mast  bent ;  then,  and 
with  a  perfect  precision,  the  sheets  were  slackened  for 
a  moment  to  let  her  right  herself ;  and,  braced  again, 
she  began  to  make  way,  and  in  a  few  seconds  they  were 
scudding  straight  down  the  gulf  almost  directly  before 


THE    VINEYARD 

the  wind,  till,  with  their  increasing  speed,  it  seemed  to 
die  down  again.  The  water  all  round  them  was  broken 
up  into  an  infinite  number  of  little  green  foam  -  em- 
broidered wave  troughs,  through  which,  at  the  pace  they 
were  going,  they  moved  as  quietly  as  a  skater  over  smooth 
ice. 

Nicholas  had  a  careful  eye  to  the  handling  of  the  boat 
during  these  operations,  and  he  saw  that  the  little  crew 
of  six  men  knew  their  work  perfectly,  and  that  they 
were  quick  and  prompt  at  the  moment  when  a  mishap 
might  easily  have  occurred.  He  never  let  slip  the  small- 
est opportunity  which  might  some  day  prove  to  be  use- 
ful, and  he  knew  that  for  anything  like  united  action 
it  would  be  necessary  for  the  Greeks  to  have,  if  not  com- 
mand of  their  sea-coast,  at  any  rate  the  power  to  com- 
municate with  each  other.  The  outbreak,  as  he  would 
have  it,  would  take  place  first  in  the  Peloponnesus, 
but,  not  to  fail  of  its  completeness,  it  would  have  to 
spread  over  the  north.  Patras  and  Missolonghi  were 
within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  by  sea,  but  unless  there 
was  free  communication  by  the  waterway  they  would 
be  powerless  for  mutual  support.  To  some  extent  both 
his  fear  and  his  hope  were  realized. 

Half  an  hour  later  he  and  Kanaris,  the  captain  of  the 
boat,  were  breakfasting  together,  and  Nicholas  was  ex- 
plaining to  him  exactly  what  the  weakness  of  the  move- 
ment was,  and  the  necessity  for  conjunction  between  the 
sea  and  land  forces.  He  wished  him,  he  said,  to  continue 
to  exercise  his  trade  for  the  sake  of  appearances,  but 
always  to  be  ready  at  a  moment's  notice.  When  the  out- 
break took  place  it  was  quite  certain  that  many  of  the 
Turks,  especially  those  on  the  sea-coast,  would  try  to 
escape  by  sea.  That  must  not  be  ;  it  was  no  polite  or 
diplomatic  war  on  which  they  were  to  embark ;  their  aim 

93 


THE    VINTAGE      ' 

from  the  first  must  be  the  annihilation  of  the  Turks. 
He  told  him  in  detail  how  this  means  of  escape  was  to 
be  cut  off,  as  will  appear  later,  and  as  he  unfolded  his 
bloody  plan  Kanaris^s  heart  burned  within  him,  and  he 
promised,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  help  him  gather  that 
red  vintage. 

About  mid-day  the  wind  went  down,  and  they  lay  be- 
calmed again  ;  but  Nicholas,  who,  as  he  had  said,  was  nev- 
er in  a  hurry  when  he  was  going  as  quick  as  he  could,  felt 
that  his  time  could  hardly  have  been  better  employed. 
Kanaris,  it  appeared,  was  of  a  large  Psarian  clan ;  for 
generations  he  and  his  had  been  seafaring  folk,  men  of 
the  wind  and  wave,  whose  help  Nicholas  knew  to  be  so 
essential.  He  promised,  if  possible,  to  come  to  Psara 
himself  before  the  year  was  out ;  but  he  said  that  his 
hands  were  very  full,  and  he  could  pledge  no  certainty. 

For  three  hours  or  so  they  lay  on  a  tossing  water,  for 
the  wind  of  the  morning  had  roughened  the  narrow  sea, 
which  so  quickly  gets  up  under  a  squall  from  the  moun- 
tains, and  great  green  billows  came  chasing  each  other 
down  from  the  east  beneath  the  brilliant  noonday  sun, 
which  turned  them  into  a  jubilant  company  of  living 
things.  The  boat,  lying  low  in  the  water  with  its  heavy 
cargo,  reeled  and  rolled  with  a  jovial  boisterousness,  al- 
ternately lifting  up  sides  all  ashine  with  the  sea  over  the 
crest  of  a  wave,  and  burying  itself  again  with  a  chok- 
ing hiccough  in  its  trough.  The  sun  drew  out  from  the 
crates  of  figs  their  odor  of  mellow  luxuriance,  which 
hung  heavy  round  the  boat,  dispersed  every  now  and 
then  by  a  puff  of  wind  which  blew  in  the  salt  freshness 
of  the  sea. 

By  four  o'clock,  however,  the  wind,  still  favorable, 
sprang  up  again,  and  on  they  went  into  the  sunset,  the 
black  nose  of  the  boat  pushing  and  burrowing  through 

94 


THE    VINEYARD 

the  waves,  and  throwing  off  from  its  sides  sheets  of  spent 
foam.  As  the  hours  passed  Kanaris  felt  ever  more  keen- 
ly the  fascination  and  strength  of  this  strange  man,  and 
after  supper  they  sat  together  in  the  stern  watching  the 
heavens  reel  and  roll  above  them,  and  the  top  of  the 
mast  striking  wildly  right  and  left  across  a  hundred 
stars.  Nicholas,  perched  on  the  taffrail,  balancing  him- 
self with  an  exquisite  precision  to  every  movement  of 
the  boat,  talked  in  his  deep  low  voice  of  a  thousand 
schemes,  all  blood -stirring,  with  the  Turk  for  target. 
For  no  one  knew  better  than  himself  the  value  of  per- 
sonal power,  and  the  success  of  his  proselytizing  had 
been  to  a  large  extent,  even  as  in  the  case  of  Mitsos,  the 
outcome  of  his  own  individuality,  which  could  so  stir 
the  minds  of  men,  and  fan  to  a  flame  the  smouldering 
hatred  against  the  Turks,  and  cause  it  to  leap  up  in  fire. 

Germanos,  the  Metropolitan  Bishop  of  Patras,  had  only 
just  risen  next  morning  when  his  messenger  came  back, 
having  travelled  through  the  night  to  announce  Nicholas's 
coming,  and  also  report  the  same  talk  in  the  cafes  which 
Kanaris  had  heard.  The  bishop  smiled  to  himself  at 
the  idea  of  any  untoward  fate  laying  hands  on  Nicholas, 
and  told  his  servant  to  let  it  be  widely  known  that  Nich- 
olas had  been  taken  and  killed. 

"For,"  as  he  said,  ''the  Turks  will  be  delighted  to 
believe  that  (and  men  always  succeed  in  believing  what 
they  wish),  and  all  Greeks  to  whom  Nicholas  is  more 
than  a  name  will  know  that  this  is  one  of  those  things 
which  do  not  occur.  I  am  ready  for  breakfast,  and  let  a 
room  for  my  poor  dead  friend  be  got  ready,  and  also  a 
bath  in  which  the  body  may  be  washed." 

Germanos  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  a  Greek  of  un- 
mixed blood,  now  nearly  or  quite  extinct.  His  family 
came  from  the  island  Delos,  still  unviolated  by  the  un- 

95 


THE    VINTAGE 

speakable  race,  and  from  generation  to  generation  they 
had  only  married  with  islanders.  He  was  rather  above 
the  middle  height,  and  his  long  black  cassock  made  him 
appear  taller.  In  accordance  with  Greek  rite,  neither  his 
hair  nor  beard  had  ever  been  cut,  and  the  former  flowed 
black  and  thick  onto  his  shoulders,  and  his  beard  fell  in 
full  rippling  lines  down  as  far  as  his  waist.  Though  for 
three  or  four  years  his  life  had  been  one  long  effort  of 
organizing  his  countrymen  against  the  Turks,  the  latter 
had  never  suspected  his  complicity,  and  he  intended  to 
take  the  fullest  advantage  of  their  misplaced  confidence 
in  him.  Though  Germanos  had  not  trodden  the  world 
so  widely  as  Nicholas  had  done,  he  was  nevertheless  a 
man  of  culture  —  shrewd,  witty,  and  educated.  And 
Nicholas  too,  though  for  the  sake  of  the  great  cause  he 
would  have  condemned  himself  cheerfully  never  to  speak 
to  a  man  of  his  own  rank  and  breeding  again,  found  it  a 
pleasant  change,  after  his  incessant  wanderings  among 
peasants,  to  mix  with  his  own  kind  again.  His  few  days 
Avith  Constantino  at  Nauplia,  it  is  true,  he  had  much  en- 
joyed, for  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  happy  when  that 
apostle  of  happiness,  the  little  Mitsos,  was  by ;  and  Oon- 
stantine,  too,  was  of  the  salt  of  the  earth.  He  only  ar- 
rived in  the  evening,  just  before  dinner,  and  they  sat 
down  together  as  soon  as  he  had  washed. 

"There  is  a  good  man  to  hand,  I  think,  to-day — the 
captain  of  the  boat  I  came  by,"  said  he.  **  I  suggested  he 
should  come  and  talk  with  us  to-morrow.  I  would  have 
brought  him  with  me,  but  he  was  busy  with  his  fig  cargo." 

"My  dear  Nicholas,  you  are  indefatigable.  I  do  not 
believe  there  is  a  man  in  the  world  but  you  who  would 
wake  at  dawn  on  the  gulf  and  instantly  set  about  making 
a  proselyte.  You  should  have  been  a  priest.  What 
made  you  see  a  patriot  in  him  ?" 

96 


THE    VINEYARD 

"  It  was  a  long  shot,"  said  Nicholas.  "  He  spoke  with- 
out sympathy  of  the  new  Turkish  harbor  dues  at  Corinth, 
and  told  me  my  capture  was  imminent.  I  risked  it  on 
that." 

The  archbishop  frowned. 

'^New  harbor  dues?  It  is  time  to  think  of  harbor 
dues  when  there  is  a  harbor." 

'*So  he  said,"  answered  Nicholas.  "Their  methods 
have  simplicity.     They  seized  six  crates  of  his  figs." 

"We  are  commanded,"  remarked  Germanos,  "to  love 
all  men.  I  hope  I  love  the  Turk,  but  I  am  certain  that 
I  do  not  like  him.  And  I  desire  that  it  will  please  God  to 
remove  as  many  as  possible  of  his  kind  to  the  kingdom 
of  the  blest  or  elsewhere  without  delay.  I  say  so  in  my 
prayers." 

Nicholas  smiled. 

"  That  gives  a  double  sound,"  said  he  ;  "you  pray  not 
for  their  destruction,  but  for  their  speedy  salvation.  Is 
that  it  ?" 

"  To  love  all  men  is  a  hard  saying ;  for,  indeed,  I 
love  my  nation,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  removal  of  the 
Turks  will  be  for  their  permanent  good.  What  does  the 
psalmist  say,  though  he  was  not  acquainted  with  the 
Turk,  'I  will  wash  m^  footsteps  in  the  blood  of  the 
ungodly '  ?" 

"As  far  as  I  can  learn  the  ungodly  were  expecting  to 
wash  their  footsteps  in  my  blood  at  Corinth,"  said  Nich- 
olas ;  "but  they  behaved  as  it  is  only  granted  to  Turks 
to  behave.  They  expected  me  twenty-four  hours  after  I 
had  gone  away." 

"  How  did  things  go  at  Nauplia  ?" 
"  Better  than  I  could  possibly  have  expected.     I  found 
the  very  man,  or  rather  the  boy,  I  wanted  in  my  young 
nephew." 

G  97 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  The  little  Mitsos  ?    How  old  is  lie  ?" 

'^  Eighteen,  but  six  feet  high,  and  with  the  foot  of  a 
roe-deer  on  the  mountains.  Moreover,  I  can  trust  him 
to  the  death/' 

'^^  Eighteen  is  too  young,  surely,"  said  G-ermanos. 
^^  Again,  you  can  trust  many  people  to  just  short  of  that 
point,  and  they  are  the  most  dangerous  of  all  to  work 
with.  I  could  sooner  work  with  a  man  I  could  not  trust 
as  far  as  a  toothache  I" 

In  answer  Nicholas  told  him  of  that  midnight  test,  and 
Germanos  listened  with  interest  and  horror. 

"You  are  probably  right  then,  and  I  am  wrong,"  he 
said;  "and  a  boy  can  move  about  the  country  without 
suspicion  where  a  man  could  not  go.  But  how  could 
you  do  so  cruel  a  thing  ?  Are  you  flesh  and  blood — and 
a  young  boy  like  that  ?" 

"Yes,  it  was  horrible!"  said  Nicholas;  "but  I  want 
none  but  those  who  are  made  of  steel.     I  knew  by  it  that 
he  was  one  in  a  thousand.     He  clinched  his  teeth,  and 
never  a  word." 
.    "  What  do  you  propose  to  do  with  him  now  ?" 

"  That  is  what  I  came  to  talk  to  you  about.  It  is 
time  to  set  to  work  in  earnest.  The  Club,  as  you  know, 
have  given  me  a  free  hand  and  an  open  purse.  Mitsos 
must  go  from  village  to  village,  especially  round  Sparta, 
and  tell  them  to  begin  what  I  told  them  and  to  be 
ready.  The  Turks  are,  I  am  afraid,  on  the  lookout  for 
me,  and  I  cannot  travel,  as  you  say,  in  the  way  he  can 
without  suspicion." 

"  What  did  you  tell  them  to  begin  ?"  asked  Germanos. 

"  Can  you  ask  ?  Surely  to  grind  black  corn  for  the 
Turk.  It  must  be  done  very  quickly  and  quietly,  and 
chiefly  up  in  the  villages  there  in  Maina.  You  say  you 
are  collecting  arms  here  ?" 


THE    VINEYARD 

''Not  here,  at  the  monastery  at  Megaspelaion.  Many 
of  them  have  been  bought  from  the  Turks  themselves. 
There  lies  a  sting.  The  monks  carry  them  in  among 
the  maize  and  reed  stalks.  Father  Priketes  was  met  the 
other  day  by  a  couple  of  their  little  Turkish  soldiers, 
who  asked  why  they  were  carrying  so  many  reeds,  and 
he  said  it  was  to  mend  the  roof.  Eeeds  make  a  capital 
roof." 

"Yes,  the  monastery  roof  will  want  many  mules' loads 
of  mending,"  said  Nicholas.  '*  Do  you  suppose  they  sus- 
pect anything  ?" 

"  Certainly,  but  they  have  nothing  to  act  on  ;  besides, 
I  would  be  willing  to  let  them  search  the  monastery  from 
top  to  bottom.  Do  you  remember  the  chapel  there,  and 
the  great  altar  ?" 

''Surely." 

"  The  flag-stone  under  the  altar  has  been  taken  up  and 
a  hole  made  into  the  crypt.  The  door  into  the  crypt, 
which  opens  from  the  passage  in  the  floor  below,  has  been 
boarded  over  and  whitewashed,  so  that  it  looks  exactly 
like  the  rest  of  the  passage  wall.  It  is  impossible  to 
detect  it.  Mehemet  Salik,  the  new  governor  in  Tripoli, 
appointed  only  this  month  from  Nauplia,  was  there  last 
week  and  examined  the  whole  place.  He  is  a  young  man, 
though  suspicious  for  his  age." 

"That  is  good,"  said  Nicholas.  "Your  doing,  I  sup- 
pose.    How  many  guns  have  you  ?" 

"About  a  thousand,  and  twice  as  many  swords.  In 
another  month  we  shall  be  ready.  Megaspelaion  makes 
a  far  better  centre  than  Patras  would,  as  it  is  so  much 
nearer  Tripoli.     That  is  where  the  struggle  will  begin." 

"  "Who  knows  ?"  said  Nicholas.  "  When  we  are  ready 
we  will  begin  just  where  it  suits  us.  Personally,  I  should 
prefer — "    He  stopped. 

99 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  Well  r 

"It  is  this/'  said  Nicholas.  "It  is  no  gallant  and 
polite  war  we  want ;  we  do  not  want  to  make  terms,  or 
treaties,  or  threats.  We  want  to  strike  and  have  done 
with  it;  to  exterminate.  I  should  prefer,  if  possible, 
striking  the  first  blow  either  at  Kalamata  or  Nauplia. 
Then  the  dogs  from  all  round  would  run  yelping  into 
Tripoli,  as  it  is  their  strongest  place,  and  so  at  the  end 
there  would  be  none  left." 

"Exterminate  is  no  Christian  word,  Nicholas.  The 
women  and  the  children — " 

"The  women  and  children,"  said  Nicholas,  rising  and 
pacing  up  and  down  the  room  ;  "what  are  they  to  me  ? 
Once  when  I  was  an  outlaw  I  spared  them — yes,  and  spared 
the  men,  too,  only  sending  them  riding  back  face  to  the 
horse's  tail.  But  did  they  spare  my  wife  and  my  child  ? 
If  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  I  will  show  them  the  mercy 
they  showed  me  !" 

Germanos  was  silent  a  few  momerrts,  and  waited  till 
Nicholas  had  sat  down  again. 

"  AVill  you  drink  more  wine  ?"  he  asked  ;  "if  not,  we 
will  sit  on  the  balcony ;  it  is  hot  to-night.  I  think  you 
are  right  about  striking  the  first  blow  somewhere  in  the 
south,  so  that  they  shall  go  to  Tripoli.  I  had  thought 
before  that  it  would  be  better  to  strike  at  the  centre. 
But  your  plan  seems  to  me  the  wiser.  Come  outside, 
Nicholas." 

Germanos's  house  stood  just  out  of  the  town,  high  up 
on  the  hill,  which  was  crowned  by  the  castle,  and  from 
his  balcony  they  could  see  the  twinkling  lights  in  the 
fort  below  like  holes  bored  in  the  dark,  and  beyond  the 
stretch  of  starlit  water,  and  dimly  on  the  other  side  of 
the  gulf  the  hill  above  Missolonghi  shouldering  itself 
up  in  the  faint  black  distance.     Before  long  the  moon 

100 


THE    VINEYARD 

rose  above  the  castle  behind  them,  and  turned  the  whole 
world  to  silver  and  ebony.  Cicalas  chirped  in  the  bushes, 
and  the  fragrance  of  the  southern  night  came  drowsily 
along  the  wind.  Every  now  and  then  a  noise  would  rise 
up  for  a  moment  in  the  town,  shrill  to  its  highest,  and 
die  away  again. 

A  boy  brought  them  out  coffee,  made  thick  and  sweet 
in  the  Turkish  manner,  and  two  narghiles  with  amber 
mouth-pieces,  and  brazen  bowls  for  holding  the  coarse- 
cut  tobacco.  On  each  he  placed  a  glowing  charcoal  em- 
ber, and  handed  the  mouth-pieces  to  the  two  men.  For 
a  long  while  they  sat  in  silence,  and  then  Nicholas  spoke  : 

^^  It  will  be  no  time  for  mercy — I  shall  go  where  my 
vow  leads  me,  and  I  have  vowed  to  spare  neither  man, 
woman,  nor  child.  I  will  show  them  the  mercy  they 
showed  me,  and  no  other." 

^^  God  make  you  merciful  on  that  day,  as  you  hope  for 
mercy,"  said  Germanos.  "  For  me,  I  shall  not  be  a 
party  to  any  butchering  of  the  defenceless.  There  will 
be  plenty  of  butchers  without  me.  Blood  must  be  shed  ; 
it  cannot  be  otherwise.  Fight  and  spare  not,  but  when 
the  fighting  is  over  let  the  rest  go  out  of  the  country, 
for  we  will  not  have  them  here.  But  for  massacre,  I  will 
not  make  myself  no  better  than  a  Turk  V 

The  two  narghiles  bubbled  in  silence  again  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  at  last  Germanos  broke  in  with  a  laugh : 

''  The  Turks  all  think  you  are  dead,"  he  said.  ''  I  told 
the  boy  to  let  it  be  widely  known  that  you  had  been  killed 
at  Corinth.  It  is  just  as  well  they  should  believe  it. 
Mehemet  Achmet,  the  sleepiest  man  God  made,  was  here 
this  afternoon,  and  he  regretted  it  with  deep-seated  en- 
joyment.    They  seemed  to  know  all  about  you  here  !" 

'^  But  none  in  Patras  know  me  by  sight,"  said  Nicholas, 
''and  as  I  am  dead  they  never  will.    It  is  possible  that  it 

101 


THE    VINTAGE 

may  prove  useful  to  me.     What  are  your  plans  for  to- 
morrow ?" 

"  We  will  do  what  you  like.  It  might  be  well  for  you 
to  see  Megaspelaion.  We  could  get  there  in  a  day  if  the 
wind  held  to  Vostitza.  They  have,  as  I  said,  a  curious 
little  crypt  there,  which  is  worth  a  visit." 

Nicholas  smiled. 

^'It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  see  too  much,"  he  said, 
''just  as  it  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  pretend  to  know 
too  little.  I  would  give  a  fortune,  if  I  had  one,  for  a 
face  like  my  brother-in-law  Constantino's,  for  it  is  as  a 
mask  in  carnival  time,  behind  which  who  knows  what 
may  be  "f  Yet  there  is  force  in  him,  and  Mitsos  obeys 
him  as — as  he  obeys  me  !  And  yet  he  is  too  large  a  lad 
to  take  commands  easily." 

'^  Perhaps  jio  other  influence  has  come  in  yet.  To  fall 
in  love,  for  instance,  sometimes  makes  a  good  lad  less 
obedient  than  an  orphan  to  his  parents." 

''The  little  one  in  love  would  be  fine,"  said  Nich- 
olas. "He  would  send  the  whole  world  to  the  devil. 
Why,  shooting  is  the  strongest  passion  he  has  known 
yet,  and  he  shoots  as  if  all  the  saints  were  watching 
him." 

"I  hope  some  of  them  are,"  remarked  Germanos,  '^and 
that  they  will  especially  watch  him  when  he  is  inclined 
to  send  the  whole  world  to  the  devil.  I  hope  Mitsos  will 
not  think  of  including  me." 

"  I  will  warn  him  when  I  see  him  next.  I  shall  go  on 
there,  I  think,  in  November.  I  must  get  back  to  Maina 
first  and  see  my  cousin,  Petros  Mavromichales,  who  is  the 
head  of  the  clan,  and  find  out  if  the  clan  are  prepared  to 
rise  in  a  body.  That  man  Kanaris  was  handy  enough 
with  his  boat,  but  I  would  back  Mitsos  to  sail  against 
him  in  any  weather." 

103 


THE    VINEYAKD 

'^  Ah  !  that  fire-ship  is  a  horrible  idea  of  yours,  Nich- 
olas/' 

"  Horrible,  but  necessary.  We  must  not  have  supplies 
of  arms  and  gunpowder  coming  to  the  Turks  by  sea,  and 
there  must  be  no  escape  out  of  the  death-trap  which  we 
will  snap  down  on  them.  And  now  let  me  tell  you  all 
that  is  in  my  mind,  for  it  may  be  we  shall  not  meet  again 
till  the  great  Vintage  is  ripe  for  the  gathering. 

For  an  hour  or  so  Nicholas  talked  eagerly,  unfolding 
his  schemes,  Germanos  listening  always  attentively,  some- 
times dissenting,  but  in  the  main  approving.  He  spoke 
of  the  Club  of  Patriots  in  north  Greece,  who  had  given  him 
leave  to  act  in  their  name  until  the  time  came  for  them 
to  send  a  delegate  who  woukl  act  openly ;  for  at  present  if 
it  became  known  that  the  leading  men  of  Greece,  many 
of  whom  were  in  official  positions  under  the  Turks,  were 
concerned  in  schemes  of  revolution,  the  tvhole  project 
would  be  a  pricked  bubble.  He  sketched  the  rising  of  the 
peasants,  in  whom  the  strength  of  the  war  would  lie ; 
the  flame  that  should  run  through  the  land,  as  through 
summer-dry  stubble,  from  north  to  south  and  east  to 
west ;  and  it  seemed  in  after  years  to  Germanos  that  a 
spirit  of  prophecy  had  been  on  the  man. 

And  as  Nicholas  went  on  another  vision  rose  before 
the  bishop's  eyes :  the  vision  of  his  church,  the  mother 
of  their  hearts,  throned  not  only  there,  but  in  the  glory 
of  an  earthly  magnificence,  in  visible  splendor  the  bride 
of  her  Lord.  Therein  to  him  was  food  for  hope  and  as- 
piration, and  his  thoughts  drifted  away  from  war  and 
bloodshed  to  that. 

And  when  Nicholas  had  finished  he  met  an  eye  that 
kindled  as  his  own,  but  with  thoughts  that  were  not 
spoken,  but  partook  of  their  sweet  and  secret  food  in 
silence  and  self-communing. 

103 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE   MEN"DIKG  OF   THE   M0:N'ASTEKY    ROOF 

Kakaris  had  finished  his  unlading  the  same  evening, 
and  he  was  ready  at  daybreak  to  take  Nicholas  and  Ger- 
manos  as  far  as  Vostitza,  a  fishing  village  lying  some 
four  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  gorge,  at  the  top  of 
which  stands  Megaspelaion.  Here  the  archbishop  and 
Nicholas  would  get  mules  and  reach  the  monastery  the 
same  evening.  Vostitza,  with  their  fair  wind,  was  not  more 
than  four  hours  from  Patras,  and  on  arriving  there  the 
archbishop  went  straight  to  the  house  of  the  Turkish 
governor,  from  whom  he  procured  mules,  and  to  whom 
he  introduced  Nicholas  as  his  cousin  ;  and  the  three 
talked  together  a  while  over  a  cup  of  coffee,  discussed 
the  idle  rumors  that  were  abroad  concerning  a  move- 
ment against  the  Turks  among  the  Greeks,  and  found 
cause  for  comfort  as  lovers  of  peace  in  the  undoubted 
fact  that  Nicholas  had  been  killed  two  days  before  at 
Corinth.  He  was  a  turbulent,  hot-headed  man,  said  the 
archbishop,  and  did  not  value  the  blessings  of  tranquillity. 
His  cousin  also  had  met  him,  a  quarrelsome,  wine-bibbing 
fellow,  quoth  Nicholas;  he  could  have  had  no  more  ap- 
propriate end  than  a  brawl  in  a  wine-shop. 

Thus  they  chatted  very  pleasantly  and  harmoniously 
while  their  mules  were  being  made  ready,  and  Said  Aga, 
who  was  no  man  of  the  sword,  being  rotund  and  indolent 
in  habit,  was  much  relieved  to  find  that  Germanos  scof- 

104 


THE    VINEYARD 

fingly  dismissed  the  idea  of  any  hostile  movement  being 
on  foot  among  the  Greeks.  True,  there  had  been  disturb- 
ances lately ;  a  Turkish  tax-collector  had  been  killed  at 
Diakopton,  three  miles  from  Vostitza.  Had  they  not 
heard  ?    The  news  had  come  yesterday  ! 

"Alas!  for  this  unruly  people,"  said  Germanos. 
^'  What  was  the  manner  of  it  ?" 

"  I  hardly  know,"  said  Said  Aga.  "  It  was  the  usual 
story,  I  believe.  He  had  taken  to  himself  a  Greek 
woman,  and  the  husband  killed  him.  The  man  has  fled, 
but  they  will  catch  him,  and  he  will  suffer,  and  then  die. 
Eor  me,  I  shrug  my  shoulders  at  these  things.  We 
Turks  have  certain  customs,  and  the  Prophet  himself 
had  four  wives,  and  when  we  are  the  lords  of  a  country 
we  must  be  obeyed." 

"True,"  said  Nicholas,  "quite  true,  and  we  must 
submit.  It  is  not  the  will  of  God  that  all  men  should 
be  equal." 

He  caught  Germanos's  eye  for  a  moment. 

"I  am  glad  that  you  think  there  is  nothing  in  these 
rumors,"  went  on  Said  Aga.  "Your  countrymen 
would  hardly  be  so  foolish  as  to  attempt  anything  of  the 
sort.  But  the  rumors  are  somewhat  persistent.  It  was 
even  said  that  the  monks  at  Megaspelaion  were  collect- 
ing arms,  and  my  colleague  Mehemet  Salik,  a  very  en- 
ergetic young  man  who  was  lately  put  in  charge  at 
Tripoli,  thought  best  to  make  an  inspection  there.  But 
he  was  quite  satisfied  there  was  no  truth  in  it." 

Germanos  laughed  heartily. 

"  That  is  a  little  too  much,"  he  said.  "  You  may  at 
least  rest  assured  that  we  priests  of  God  are  men  of  peace. 
Our  mules,  they  tell  me,  are  ready.  A  thousand  thanks. 
Excellency,  for  your  kindness." 

They  mounted  and  rode  up  the  straying  village  street, 

105 


THE    VINTAGE 

paved  with  big,  uneven  stones.  The  villagers  were  all 
out  in  the  fields  for  the  fruit  harvest,  and  the  rough, 
shaggy-haired  dogs,  keeping  watch  in  the  deserted  house- 
yards,  came  rushing  out  barking  and  snarling  with  bared 
teeth  at  the  sound  of  their  mules  with  their  tinkling 
bells  and  iron-shod  feet  grating  over  the  cobbles.  The 
mule-boys  paid  little  attention  to  their  noisy  menaces, 
though  now  and  then  some  dog  more  savage  or  less 
wisely  valorous  than  his  fellows  would  come  within  stick 
distance,  only  to  be  sent  back  with  better  cause  for  cry- 
ing than  before. 

But  in  ten  minutes  or  so  they  got  clear  of  the  village, 
and  taking  one  of  the  field  roads  struck  across  the  plain 
towards  the  mouth  of  the  gorge,  about  four  miles  dis- 
tant. The  grapes  were  not  yet  so  far  advanced  as  at 
Nauplia  and  still  hung  hard,  and  tinged  with  color 
only  on  the  sunward  side  ;  but  the  fruit  harvest  was 
going  on,  and  under  the  fig-trees  were  spread  coarse 
strips  of  matting  on  which  the  fragrant  piles  were  laid 
to  dry.  A  few  late  pomegranate-trees  were  still  covered 
with  their  red  wax-like  blossoms,  but  on  most  the  petals 
had  fallen,  and  the  fruit,  like  little  green-glazed  pitchers, 
was  beginning  to  swell  and  darken  towards  maturity. 
The  men  were  at  work  in  the  vineyards  cutting  channels 
for  the  water,  and  through  the  green  of  the  fig-trees  you 
could  catch  sight  every  now  and  then  of  the  brightly- 
colored  petticoat  of  some  woman  picking  the  fruit,  or 
else  her  presence  was  only  indicated,  where  the  leaves 
were  thicker,  by  the  dumping  of  the  ripe  figs  onto  the 
canvas  strips  below.  The  sun  was  right  overhead  before 
they  struck  the  mouth  of  the  gorge,  and  the  heat  in- 
tense— a  still,  fruit-ripening  heat  in  the  heavy  air  of  the 
plains.  But  as  they  approached  the  hills  a  cooler  draught 
slid  down  from  between  the  enormous  crags,  bearing  on 

106 


THE    VINEYARD 

it  the  voice  of  the  brawling  torrent,  which  is  fed  by  the 
snow  of  Cyllene  and  Helmos,  and  knows  not  drought. 

Here  the  country  was  given  up  to  olives  and  wheat, 
and  occasional  clumps  of  maize  near  the  bed  of  the 
stream.  The  oleanders  were  still  in  flower,  and  their 
great  clusters  of  pink  blossom  marked  the  course  of  the 
river.  Another  mile  took  them  to  the  ford,  on  the  far 
side  of  which  the  path  began  to  climb  through  the  ever- 
narrowing  gorge.  Further  up  they  found  it  impossible 
to  keep  to  the  course  of  the  stream,  for  the  road  had 
been  washed  away  in  places  and  not  repaired,  and  leaving 
it  on  their  right,  they  turned  up  over  a  steep  grassy 
stretch  of  moor,  sprinkled  here  and  there  with  pines. 
Looking  back  they  could  see  below  them  the  hot  luxuri- 
ant plain  they  had  left,  trembling  sleepily  under  the  blue 
haze  of  heat,  and  further  off  the  shimmering  waters  of 
the  gulf.  As  they  ascended  the  vegetation  changed  : 
pines  entirely  took  the  place  of  the  olives,  and  the  grass, 
all  brown  and  dead  below  from  the  summer's  heat,  began 
to  be  flushed  with  lively  green,  and  studded  with  wild 
campanulas  and  little  blue  gentians,  throbbing  hotly 
with  color.  Then  descending  again  they  passed  along 
the  upper  slope  of  the  cliffs  above  the  gorge  and  saw 
before  them  the  deep,  sheltered  valley  stretching  up 
to  Kalavryta,  a  land  of  streams  and  a  garden  of  the 
Lord. 

The  sun  was  already  near  its  setting  when  they  joined 
the  main  road  leading  up  to  the  monastery  from  the 
valley,  and  they  struck  into  a  train  of  some  half-dozen 
mules  covered  and  enveloped  in  loads  of  reeds,  the  tops 
of  which  brushed  rustling  along  the  ground  behind  like 
some  court  lady's  dress.  Two  of  the  monks  from  the 
monastery  were  in  charge  of  these,  and  when  they  saw 
who  it  was  with  Nicholas  they  stopped  and  kissed  the 

107 


THE    VINTAGE 

archbishop's  hands.  As  they  moved  forward  again  he 
said  : 

"I  see  you  are  carrying  reeds,  my  sons.  From  where 
did  they  come,  and  for  what  purpose  T^ 

"From  Kalavryta,  father,"  said  one.  "We  have  six 
mules  laden  with  them.  The  monastery  roof  needs 
mending." 

"That  is  good.  Observe,  Nicholas,  how  fine  these 
reeds  are.  They  seem  to  be  a  heavy  load.  The  monastery 
roof,  they  say,  wants  mending." 

The  younger  of  the  two  monks  smiled. 

"A  great  many  things  want  mending,  father!"  he 
said.  "  We  are  making  preparations  for  mending 
them." 

Nicholas,  who  was  in  front,  checked  his  mule. 

"And  have  you  black  corn,"  he  said,  "good  black 
corn  for  the  Turk  ?" 

The  monk  shook  his  head. 

"I  do  not  understand,"  he  said. 

Germanos  smiled  back  at  Nicholas. 

"A  roof  for  the  monastery  first,  Nicholas,"  he  said  ; 
"  there  will  be  time  for  the  good  black  corn  when  the 
roof  is  mended.  And  now,  my  son,  I  will  ask  you  to  go 
forward  quickly  and  tell  Father  Priketes,  with  my 
salutations,  that  my  cousin  and  I  will  arrive  very  soon. 
We  shall  stop  with  him  for  a  day,  or  it  may  be  two, 
for  we  wish  to  superintend  this  mending  of  the  monas- 
tery roof,  and  see  that  it  is  well  done  for  the  glory  of 
God." 

Another  half-hour  through  the  gathering  dusk  brought 
them  in  sight  of  the  monastery,  which  from  the  dis- 
tance was  indistinguishable  from  the  face  of  the  cliif, 
against  which  it  was  built.  Chains  of  light  shone  from 
the   narrow  windows,  row  above    row,  some   from   the 

108 


THE    VINEYAED 

height  of  all  its  twelve  stories,  twinkling  a  hundred  feet 
above  them,  as  if  from  cottages  perched  high  on  the 
cliff,  others  larger  and  nearer  from  the  windows  of  the 
sacristy  and  library.  To  the  right  stood  the  great  gate- 
way, about  which  several  moving  lanterns  seemed  to 
show  that  the  news  of  their  coming  had  anticipated 
them,  and  that  due  preparations  were  being  made  to 
receive  the  archbishop.  As  they  got  close  they  could  see 
that  the  monks  were  pouring  out  of  the  arch,  and  tak- 
ing their  places  in  rows  on  each  side  of  the  terrace  lead- 
ing up  to  the  gate.  In  front  of  them  stood  the  novices, 
some  mere  boys  of  fourteen  and  fifteen,  but  all  dressed 
alike,  and  all  with  long  hair,  that  had  never  known  the 
scissors,  flowing  onto  their  shoulders.  In  the  centre  of 
the  gateway — a  tall,  white-bearded  figure — stood  Father 
Priketes,  who  helped  the  archbishop  to  dismount,  and 
then  knelt  to  receive  his  blessing.  Germanos  paused  a 
moment  as  he  entered,  and  said  in  a  loud,  clear  voice  to 
them  all : 

'*  The  peace  of  God  be  upon  this  holy  house  and  all 
within  it,  and  His  blessing  be  upon  the  work  " — and  his 
voice  dwelt  on  the  word  —  "upon  the  work  you  are 
doing.'' 

Nicholas  was  already  known  to  Father  Priketes,  but 
the  latter  looked  as  if  he  had  seen  a  ghost  when  he  caught 
sight  of  him. 

"  We  heard  you  were  dead,"  he  said. 

Nicholas  smiled. 

'*I  am  delighted  to  know  it,  father,"  he  said.  "Do 
not  destroy  the  idea,  if  you  please." 

They  passed  on  to  Father  Priketes's  rooms,  where  they 
were  alone. 

"I  see  your  repairs  are  going  on  steadily,"  said  Ger- 
manos.    "We  passed   some  laden   mules  on  the  way. 

109 


THE    VINTAGE 

Nicholas  wished  much  to  see  what  you  were  doing.  He 
is — how  shall  I  say  it  ? — our  overseer ;  we  are  the  work- 
men. He  will  tell  us  when  the  work  must  be  finished. 
Let  us  go  at  once  to  the  chapel,  my  brother,  and  thank 
St.  Luke,  your  founder,  and  the  Blessed  Virgin,  that  they 
have  brought  us  here  safe.  That  is  the  first  duty  of  the 
soldiers  of  God.'' 

Father  Priketes  led  the  way  to  the  chapel,  and  pushed 
open  the  great  brazen  door  for  Germanos  to  enter.  He 
knelt  in  turn  before  the  great  altar,  the  altar  to  the  Be- 
loved Physician,  and  before  the  black  relief  of  the  Virgin, 
made,  as  tradition  says,  by  the  hands  of  St.  Luke  him- 
self, and  said  for  himself  and  Nicholas  a  thanksgiving 
for  the  aid  of  the  Saints  which  had  brought  them  safely 
to  the  end  of  their  journey.  They  then  supped  with 
Father  Priketes,  and  went  back  to  the  chapel. 

The  place  was  but  dimly  lighted  with  oil  lamps,  and 
after  locking  the  door  behind  them — for  at  present  only 
a  few  of  the  monks  had  been  trusted  with  the  secret  of 
the  crypt — the  father  lighted  a  lantern  and  led  the  way 
up  to  the  east  end.  Then  after  crossing  himself  he  drew 
from  underneath  the  altar  a  small  crowbar,  and  creeping 
under  with  the  lantern,  he  prized  away  a  square  paving- 
stone,  which  covered  a  hole  large  enough  for  a  single 
man  to  creep  through.  Rough  wooden  steps  had  been 
erected  from  the  floor  of  the  crypt  up  to  the  level  of  this, 
and  one  by  one  they  descended.  The  crypt  was  some 
forty  feet  long  by  twenty  broad,  and  the  light  of  the 
lantern  struck  from  all  the  walls  a  reflection  of  steel. 
Since  Germanos's  last  visit  they  had  largely  added  to  the 
number  of  arms,  and  on  a  hasty  glance  Nicholas  reckoned 
that  there  could  not  be  less  than  fifteen  hundred  guns. 

His  eyes  glistened  as  he  moved  the  lantern  round  the 
walls,  and  he  turned  to  Father  Priketes. 

110 


THE    VINEYAKD 

"This  will  make  a  hole  in  the  Turks  bigger  than  the 
hole  in  your  roof/'  he  said.  "  You  have  enough,  I  think. 
They  will  be  hungry,  these  reeds  ;  grind  their  food  for 
them,  and  do  not  let  them  feel  stint  of  that." 

"Already  ?"  asked  Father  Priketes. 

"  Already  !  It  is  August  now,  and  when  our  vineyards 
are  green  with  the  fresh  leaves  in  the  spring,  the  juice  of 
the  greater  vintage  shall  be  spilled.  And  there  will  be 
a  mighty  gathering  ;  the  wine-press  will  be  running  red, 
and  fuller  than  the  vats  of  Solomon.  Where  can  you 
stow  the  food  for  all  these  hungry  throats  ?" 

"  There  is  room  here,  is  there  not  ?" 

"Surely,  room  and  to  spare  ;  but  it  would  not  be  well 
to  keep  it  here.  Whoever  enters  here  must  carry  a 
light ;  a  chance  spark,  and  he  may  cry  to  the  Virgin  in 
vain.'' 

Father  Priketes  paused  a  moment. 

"You  shall  take  a  walk  with  me  to-morrow  and  we 
will  see.     You  are  satisfied  at  present  ?" 

"  I  shall  never  be  satisfied,"  said  Nicholas.  "  I  should 
not  be  satisfied  if  I  saw  all  the  armaments  of  angels  in 
array  against  the  Turk.  But  it  is  time  to  think  of  other 
things.     Could  you  raise  men  at  once  ?" 

"  Five  hundred  in  one  minute  from  within  these  walls," 
said  Father  Priketes,  "and  two  thousand  more  in  the 
time  it  would  take  an  eager  man  to  climb  up  here  from 
Kalavryta." 

Nicholas  looked  round  again,  smiling  as  a  man  smiles 
to  look  on  one  he  loves. 

"This  feeds  my  soul,"  he  said.  "And  swords  too, 
little  sickles  for  the  gathering  !  Look  you,  perhaps  we 
shall  not  meet  again  till  after  our  vintage  has  begun ; 
but  remember  this  :  After  four  months  from  now,  we 
cannot  tell  when  the  day  of  the  beginning  of  the  gather- 
Ill 


THE    VINTAGE 

ing  will  come,  and  so  be  ready.  Whatever  the  archbishop 
orders,  do  it,  for  he  and  I  work  together.  And,  O  Father, 
let  no  man  take  thought  for  himself  on  that  day.  AVhat 
matters  it  to  whom  the  honor  and  the  glory  go,  if  once 
Greece  is  free  ?  If  you  desire  such  things,  I  give  to  you 
now  by  bequest  all  the  honor  and  riches  that  may  come 
to  me.  Forgive  me  for  saying  this,  but  that  is  the  only 
loophole  where  failure  may  creep  into  our  camp,  and  that 
I  fear  more  than  ten  Sultans  and  their  armies.  I  say  the 
same  thing  to  all,  and  I  remind  myself  of  it  daily.  I 
have  been  chosen  to  conduct  this  matter,  for  the  present, 
in  the  Morea,  and  I  will  give  my  life  and  all  I  possess  to 
it ;  and  in  company  with  others,  of  whom  the  archbishop 
is  one,  and  Petros  Mavromichales,  of  Maina,  another,  I 
will  do  my  best,  so  help  me  God,  honestly  and  without  a 
selfish  mind.  The  moment  a  single  dissentient  voice  is 
raised,  not  in  the  matter  of  councils  or  plan  of  actions, 
on  which  we  will  listen  to  all  that  is  to  be  said,  but  of 
command  and  obedience,  I  only  ask  leave  to  serve  in  the 
ranks.  Let  us  deliberate  together  by  all  means  till  the 
time  comes  to  act,  but  when  that  time  comes,  and  a  word 
of  command  goes  through  the  country,  let  there  be  no 
delay.  For  all  will  depend,  so  I  take  it,  on  the  speed 
with  which  we  act  when  we  come  to  action.  This  is 
the  beginning  and  the  end  of  success,  and  all  that  lies 
between." 

'^But  how  is  the  word  of  command  to  come,"  said 
Father  Priketes,  who  had  secretly  hoped  for  a  little  inde- 
pendent campaign,  '^  if  you  are  not  with  us  ?  Must  I 
not  act  on  my  own  judgment  ?" 

"No,  a  thousand  times  no,"  said  Nicholas.  "What  I 
have  seen  here  shows  me  that  you  in  Megaspelaion  and 
Patras  will  be  no  small  portion  of  our  first  success.  How 
the  war  will  spread  afterwards,  God  knows ;  but  when 

113 


THE    VINEYARD 

the  first  grapes  are  cut  it  will  be  you,  so  I  think,  to 
garner  them.  This  is  why  you  must  obey  absolutely. 
Nothing  will  be  left  to  your  judgment.  A  message  will 
come,  and  you  will  obey." 

*^'How  am  I  to  tell  who  your  messenger  is  ?" 

Nicholas  smiled. 

"  Some  afternoon,  when  you  are  sitting  in  the  spring 
sunshine,  or  perhaps  some  night  in  this  next  winter, 
when  you  are  sleeping,  a  monk  will  come  to  you  and  say, 
'There  is  a  man  here,  or  a  boy  it  may  be,  or  a  girl  even, 
who  wishes  to  see  you,  and  we  cannot  understand  what 
he  means.'  Then  you  will  delay  not,  but  go  and  see 
what  it  is.  You  will  say,  '  I  am  Father  Priketes ;  you 
have  a  message  for  me  ?'  And  the  message  will  be  in 
this  form :  '  I  am  bidden  to  ask  you  if  there  is  corn  to 
be  given  to  those  who  need  it  ?'  And  you  will  say,  *  Is  it 
black  corn  they  need,  and  are  the  needy  hungry,  or  are 
they  Turks  ?'  And  the  messenger  will  say,  ^  Send  black 
corn  for  the  Turks  to  Kalamata  or  Kalavryta,  or  where- 
ever  it  is,  and  let  two  hundred  or  five  hundred  or  a 
thousand  men  carry  it.'  Other  instructions  may  come 
as  well,  but  always  in  that  form.  And  as  you  obey,  so  may 
the  Lord  give  you  a  place  among  His  saints  in  heaven/' 

Father  Priketes  was  silent  for  a  moment. 

'*  You  are  right,  Nicholas,"  he  said;  "and  I  swear  by 
the  picture  of  the  mother  of  God  that  I  will  obey  in  all 
things.     Come,  shall  we  go  up  again  ?" 

They  climbed  up  into  the  chapel,  and  went  out  down 
the  vaulted  stone  passage  to  the  story  below,  where  an- 
other passage,  whitewashed  and  boarded  on  both  sides, 
led  to  the  monks'  library  and  Father  Priketes's  own 
rooms.  Nicholas,  who  carried  in  his  hand  an  olive-wood 
stick,  tapped  the  panelling  carelessly  as  he  went  along, 
and  once  stopped  a  moment  and  smiled  at  Germanos. 
H  113 


THE    VINTAGE 

*'  The  wall  seems  to  be  a  little  less  thick  here  than  at 
other  places/' he  said.  ^^Mehemet  Salik,  however,  was 
too  cunning  to  attend  to  such  simple  things." 

''The  Lord  be  praised  for  making  so  many  clever 
men,''  said  Germanos,  piously.  "  To  have  a  fool  for  an 
enemy  has  been  the  undoing  of  more  good  people  than 
Satan  himself.'' 

They  went  on  to  Father  Priketes's  room  where  they  had 
supped  before,  and  Nicholas  lit  himself  a  pipe. 

"That  is  quite  true,''  he  said.  "A  fool  is  always 
blundering  into  the  weak  place  by  accident  —  there  is 
nothing  so  disconcerting ;  whereas  a  clever  man  is  on 
the  lookout  for  less  patent  weaknesses,  and  passes  over 
the  patent  ones  on  purpose.  And  the  Turk  is  both 
clever  and  indolent — a  very  happy  combination." 

"For  us,"  said  Priketes,  who  had,  as  Nicholas  once 
said,  a  wonderful  faculty  for  seeing  that  which  was 
obvious. 

"As  you  say,  for  us,"  said  Nicholas  ;  "and  we  intend 
to  profit  by  it.  And  now,  father,  with  your  leave  I  will 
go  to  bed.  I  have  seen  all  I  came  to  see,  and  think  I  had 
better  push  on  to  -  morrow.  You  will  find,  no  doubt,  a 
prudent  place  for  your  granary.  It  is  impossible  to  be 
too  prudent  now,  just  as  it  will  be  more  than  possible  to 
be  too  wary  hereafter.  When  once  we  get  into  the 
open  we  keep  there  until  all  is  finished." 

"  AVhere  do  you  go  now  ?"  asked  Germanos. 

"Southwards,"  said  Nicholas.  "I  must  travel  as 
widely  as  I  can  in  Messenia,  and  also  see  my  cousin  Pe- 
trobey.  The  Maina  district  will  be  raised  by  him.  If 
once  the  war  begins,  as  I  would  have  it  to  begin,  I  shall 
be  at  ease  about  the  rest.  Only  the  beginning  must  be 
as  sudden  as  the  thunderbolt.  Ah,  but  there  is  fever  in 
my  blood  for  that  I" 

114 


THE    VINEYAED 

Nicholas,  as  his  custom  was,  rose  early  next  morning 
and  went  from  the  dark  -  panelled  room,  where  he  had 
slept,  down  towards  the  chapel.  The  great  green  bronze 
bell  hanging  in  the  wooden  balcony  outside  had  just  be- 
gun to  ring  for  matins,  and  the  sound,  grave  and  sono- 
rous, floated  out  over  the  valley  like  a  dream.  He  waited 
there  awhile  looking  at  the  blackened  Byzantine  paint- 
ings which  covered  the  roof,  till  the  monks  began  troop- 
ing up  the  cobbled  passage,  and  with  the  first  of  them 
he  went  inside  the  chapel.  From  the  centre  of  the  roof 
hung  a  great  gilt  candelabrum  in  the  form  of  a  crown, 
and  from  side  to  side  of  the  building  ran  a  row  of  silver 
lamps — some  thirty  in  number — which  had  been  burning 
all  night,  but  looked  red  and  dim  in  the  fresh  morning 
light.  Set  in  the  gilt  altar-screen  were  the  paintings  of 
the  Panagia  and  of  Christ,  and  at  the  south  end — more 
precious  to  the  faithful  than  all — the  wax  relief  of  the 
Virgin  and  Child.  The  silver  panel,  behind  which  it 
is  placed,  had  been  opened,  and  Nicholas,  with  the 
others,  made  his  obeisance  before  it.  The  head  of  the 
Virgin  and  the  head  of  the  Child  are  all  that  can  be  seen, 
and  these  are  black  with  age  ;  the  rest  is  one  mass  of 
chased  gold.  The  crown  which  the  Child  wears  is  stud- 
ded with  rubies  and  emeralds  grown  dim ;  His  mother's 
crown  is  less  magnificent ;  and  on  the  silver  rail  in  front 
of  it  hang  the  offerings  of  those  to  whom,  in  the  days  of 
faith,  its  contemplation  had  brought  healing  of  many  dis- 
eases. Over  the  gate  to  the  altar  hung  two  stoles  of  red 
velvet,  in  which  the  priest  who  said  the  mass  would  robe 
himself.  A  border  of  gold  holly  leaves  ran  down  them 
on  each  side,  and  down  the  middle  they  were  embroidered 
with  floreated  and  cusped  ornaments  in  red  and  gold,  in 
the  centre  of  each  of  which  was  worked  the  figure  of 
Christ.     On  the  north  wall,  by  the  easternmost  of  the 

115 


THE    VINTAGE 

monks'  stalls,  hung  the  picture  of  the  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Palaeologus.  She  is  dressed  in  a  red  cloak 
with  golden  eagles  embroidered  over  it ;  her  hair  is  gold- 
en auburn,  and  she  raises  a  face  charmingly  childlike 
and  naive,  and  holds  up  hands  of  prayer  to  the  gracious 
figure  of  the  Virgin  who  stands  beside  her. 

Priketes  and  Germanos  Avere  the  last  to  enter,  and 
when  the  short  prayers  were  said,  Nicholas  went  out 
with  them,  and  they  walked  up  and  down  the  terrace 
awhile  talking.  Some  of  the  elder  monks,  with  their 
purple  cassocks  trimmed  with  fur  wrapped  closely  round 
them,  sat  outside  the  iron-sheeted  gate,  under  the  fresco 
of  Adam  and  Eve  being  driven  out  from  Paradise,  which 
fills  the  triangular  space  above  it,  watching  them  with 
eager  attention,  for  it  had  become  known  who  Nicholas 
was  and  what  his  errand.  On  their  right  rose  the  enor- 
mous mass  of  the  monastery,  crowned  by  an  overhanging 
cliff  of  gray  rock,  which  the  smoke  from  the  chimney 
had  stained  in  places  to  a  rich  vandyke  -  brown,  in  the 
hollow  of  which,  as  in  the  hollow  of  a  sheltering  hand, 
the  great  pile  of  buildings  stood,  seeming  rather  to  have 
been  the  core  round  which  the  rock  rose  than  to  have 
been  built  into  it.  In  front  the  ground  fell  rapidly  away 
into  the  valley,  but  was  terraced  up  into  little  gardens, 
full  of  cypresses  and  poplars  or  figs  and  plane  trees ; 
under  these  stood  many  little  wooden  arbors,  trellised 
over  with  vines,  where  the  brethren  spent  their  tranquil 
days ;  and  a  hundred  riotous  streams — some  conducted 
down  wooden  shoots,  some  straying  over  the  paths — rat- 
tled headlong  to  join  the  river  below.  Further  down, 
the  hill-side  was  covered  with  low-growing  scrub,  and  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  the  village  of  Zachlorou 
hung  on  by  teeth  and  nails  to  the  climbing  moor.  A 
company  of  swallows  cut  curves  and  circles  in  the  thin 

116 


THE    VINEYARD 

morning  air,  their  black  backs  showing  metallic,  like  ox- 
idized steel  in  the  sunlight,  and  a  great  flight  of  white 
pigeons  clattered  out  of  the  rock  above  and  settled  in  a 
cloud  by  the  fountain.  In  one  of  these  little  arbors  Ger- 
manos  and  Nicholas  drank  their  coffee  and  smoked  a 
pipe  of  the  monastery  tobacco  until  the  latter's  horse 
was  brought  round.     Then,  rising, 

"  We  shall  meet  again,"  he  said,  *'  when  the  vintage  is 
ripe,  or,  if  we  meet  not,  we  shall  both  be  laborers  in  the 
treading ;  you  here,  I  perhaps  in  the  south.  So  now, 
father,  give  me  your  blessing,  for  I  must  go  on  my  way." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   SINGER   FROM   THE   DARKN"ESS 

November  went  out  with  a  fortnight  of  cold  showers 
and  biting  winds,  and  the  woodcock  came  down  in  hun- 
dreds to  the  plain  of  Nauplia.  Often  when  the  curtain 
of  cloud  which  veiled  Mount  Elias  day  by  day  was  rent 
raggedly  in  two  by  some  blast  in  the  upper  air,  the  high- 
er slope  of  the  mountain,  it  could  be  seen,  was  sprinkled 
with  snow.  Then  the  peak  would  again  wrap  itself  in 
folds  of  tattered  vapors  as  a  beggar  throws  his  torn  cloak 
over  his  shoulder,  and  perhaps  would  not  peer  through 
the  mists  again  for  a  couple  of  days.  Down  in  the  plain 
scudding  showers  swept  across  from  north  to  south  and 
east  to  west,  and  the  earth,  still  thirsty  from  the  long 
drought  of  the  summer,  drank  them  in  feverishly  as  a 
sick  man  drains  the  glass  by  his  bedside  and  turns  to 
sleep  again. 

Mitsos  had  many  round  oaths  for  this  horrible  weather, 
but  like  a  wise  lad  cursed  and  had  done  with  it.  The 
bay  and  the  sweet  possibilities  of  the  bay  were  only  in 
the  range  of  thought,  but  the  woodcock  were  more  ac- 
cessible, and  with  something  of  the  air  of  a  martyr  he 
would  pass  a  long  day  on  the  uplands  towards  Epidaurus, 
and  come  back,  after  the  fall  of  dark,  with  a  leash  of  wood- 
cock, and  an  appetite  which  bordered  on  the  grotesque, 
singing  and  contented.  But  later  in  the  evening  he  would 
be  twitched  by  an  eager  restlessness,  and  make  many 

118 


THE    VINEYARD 

journeys  to  the  door  to  see  if  the  weather  had  cleared, 
or  showed  signs  of  clearing,  only  to  be  met  by  a  buffet- 
ing clap  of  windy  rain  in  the  face,  which  made  him  close 
it  again  quickly,  for  where  was  the  use,  he  argued,  of 
lying  rolling  and  rocking  off  the  white  wall  if  he  was  to 
be  alone  there  ?  Once  or  twice  during  this  fortnight  he 
had  sailed  by  it,  but  his  wages  Avere  only  a  wetting. 
Constantine  was  somewhat  puzzled  and  perplexed  at 
Mitsos'  behavior  about  this  time,  but  he  took  it  all  with 
his  habitual  serenity  of  tolerance,  and  likened  him  in 
his  own  mind  to  a  colt  who  is  just  beginning  to  find  out 
that  he  is  a  horse,  and,  knowing  his  own  strength  and 
learning  his  needs,  whinnies  and  kicks  up  his  heels.  He 
knew  that  it  would  be  useless  to  try  to  extract  unvolun- 
teered  information  out  of  Mitsos,  and  he  guessed  more 
nearly  to  the  truth  than  he  knew,  that  Mitsos'  somewhat 
spasmodic  moods  were  merely  the  natural  results  of  his 
budding  manhood,  and  were  as  inexplicable  to  him  as 
they  were  to  his  father.  Meantime,  though  they  had 
neither  heard  nor  seen  anything  more  of  Nicholas,  Con- 
stantine felt  that  Mitsos  was  growing  in  the  way  he  would 
have  him  grow,  and  was  increasing  in  self-reliance  and 
surefootedness  of  mind  just  as  he  was  increasing  in  bod- 
ily strength  and  stature. 

But  Mitsos  was  exercising  more  self-control  than  his 
father  gave  him  credit  for.  That  acquaintance  with 
Suleima,  the  Greek  girl  in  the  harem  of  the  Turk,  begun 
so  strangely,  had  ripened  no  less  strangely.  He  had  sat 
below  the  wall  night  after  night  and  talked  to  her  from 
his  boat,  rocking  gently  in  the  swell,  or  standing  still 
and  steady  in  the  calm  water,  till  with  a  sign  she  motion- 
ed him  away,  seeing  some  other  woman  of  the  harem  or 
one  of  the  servants  come  out  into  the  garden. 

Then  Suleima  had  made  a  confidante  of  one  of  the 
119 


THE    VINTAGE 

elder  women;  who,  seeing  Mitsos'  handsome,  laughing 
face,  had  given  her  sympathy,  and,  what  was  better,  a 
practical  exhibition  of  it,  and  had  promised  to  watch  in 
the  garden  so  that  they  might  talk  without  fear  of  inter- 
ruption ;  stipulating,  however,  through  Suleima  as  in- 
terpreter, half  laughing,  yet  half  in  earnest,  that  Mitsos 
should  give  her  a  kiss  for  every  time  she  watched  for 
them.  Suleima  had  felt  herself  flushing  as  she  inter- 
preted this  into  Greek,  but  Mitsos'  tone  reassured  her  as 
he  answered, 

''She  might  as  well  do  it  for  nothing.  Oh,  don't 
translate  that,  but  say  we  are  very  much  obliged.  Pay- 
day is  long  in  the  house  of  a  Turk." 

Then  there  came  an  evening,  only  just  before  the 
weather  had  broken,  when  Mitsos  took  down  to  the  boat 
a  little  rope  ladder.  Suleima  had  told  him  that  he  was 
to  come  there  late,  not  before  midnight,  and  she  would 
have  gone  to  her  room  early,  saying  she  was  not  Avell. 
Then,  if  possible,  she  would  come  out  to  him,  and  they 
would  go  for  a  sail  together. 

It  was  an  evening  to  be  remembered — to  be  lived  over 
again  in  memory.  Her  reluctance  and  eagerness  to 
come  ;  the  terrorizing  risk  of  discovery,  which  none  the 
less  was  a  whetstone  to  her  enjoyment ;  her  delight  at 
getting  out,  though  only  for  an  hour  or  two ;  her  half- 
frightened,  childish  exclamations  of  dismay  as  Mitsos 
put  about,  when  the  water  began  to  curl  back  from  the 
forefoot  of  the  boat  as  they  went  hissing  out  to  sea  be- 
fore the  wind ;  her  face  looking  as  if  it  was  made  of 
ebony  and  ivory  beneath  the  moonlight,  with  its  thin, 
black  eyebrows,  and  long,  black  eyelashes  ;  her  sense  of 
innocent  wickedness,  as  in  response  to  Mitsos'  entreaties 
she  unveiled  it  altogether  ;  her  curious,  fantastic  story  of 
how  she  was  carried  off  years  ago  by  a  Turk,  and  liad 

120 


THE    VINEYARD 

forgotten  all  about  her  home,  except  that  her  father  was 
a  tall  man  with  a  long,  black  dress ;  her  pretty,  hesitating 
pronunciation  of  Greek  ;  her  bewildering  treatment  of 
himself  as  if  he  was  a  boy,  as  he  was,  and  she  a  person 
of  mature  experience,  as  she  was  not,  being  a  year  young- 
er than  he  ;  the  view  which  she  took  of  this  moonlight 
sail  as  just  a  childish  freak,  heavily  paid  for  if  discovered, 
and  to  be  repeated  if  not,  while  to  him  it  was  the  open- 
ing of  heaven.  Then,  as  he  still  remained  serious,  look- 
ing at  her  with  wide  eyes  of  shy  adoration,  she  too 
became  just  a  little  serious  as  they  turned  homewards, 
and  said  that  she  liked  him  very  much,  and  that  old  Ab- 
dul Achmet  was  a  fat  pig.  Then  in  answer  to  him — Oh, 
no,  she  was  quite  content  where  she  was,  except  when 
Abdul  was  in  a  bad  temper  or  the  eunuch  beat  her. 
There  was  plenty  to  eat,  nothing  to  do,  and  they  were 
all  much  less  strictly  looked  after  than  in  other  harems, 
for  Abdul  was  old  and  only  cared  for  one  of  them.  For 
herself  she  was  a  favorite  servant  of  his  chief  wife,  and 
not  really  in  the  harem.  It  was  not  very  exciting,  but 
if  Mitsos  would  come  again  now  and  then  and  take  her 
for  sails  she  would  be  quite  happy.  Finally,  it  was  use- 
less for  him  to  come  except  when  it  was  fine,  for  the 
harem  was  always  locked  up  in  wet  weather,  and  she 
would  not  be  able  to  get  into  the  garden.  Also,  she 
hated  rain  like  a  cat. 

Then  intervened  the  fortnight  when  the  climate  of 
Nauplia,  which  for  the  most  part  is  that  of  the  valley  of 
Avilion,  gave  way  to  the  angry  moods  of  a  child — to 
screaming,  sobbing,  and  steady  weeping.  The  surface 
of  the  bay  was  churned  up  by  the  rain  and  streaked  with 
foam  by  the  wind,  and  the  big  poplar-tree,  under  which 
Maria  had  slept,  shook  itself  free  of  its  summer  foliage 
and  stood  forth  in  naked,  gnarled  appeal  to  the  elements. 

121 


THE    VINTAGE 

For  a  fortnight  the  deluge  continued,,  but  on  the  night 
of  the  1st  of  December,  Mitsos,  waking  at  that  strange 
moment  when  the  earth  turns  in  her  sleep,  and  cattle 
and  horses  stand  up  and  graze  for  a  moment  before  ly- 
ing down  again,  saw  with  half  an  eye  the  shadow  of  the 
bar  of  his  window  cast  sharply  onto  the  floor  of  his  bed- 
room by  the  slip  of  the  crescent  moon,  which  rode  high 
in  a  starry  sky,  and  when  he  woke  again  it  was  to  see  a 
heaven  of  unsullied  blue  washed  clean  by  the  rain. 

Half  the  day  he  spent  dreaming  and  dozing  in  the 
veranda,  for  he  meant  to  be  out  on  the  bay  that  night, 
and  after  his  mid-day  dinner  he  went  down  to  overhaul 
the  boat,  taking  with  him  his  fishing -net  and  a  bag  of 
resin.  He  had  wrapped  up  in  the  centre  of  the  net  the 
pillow  from  his  bed,  for  Suleima  had  said  that  the  net 
on  which  she  sat  before  smelled  fishy.  But  after  supper 
that  night  he  found  himself  beset  by  a  strange  perplexity, 
the  like  of  which  he  had  never  felt.  His  fustanella  was 
old  and  darned;  it  was  hardly  suitable.  It  did  very  well 
before,  but  somehow  now — and  the  moon  would  be  larger 
to-niglit.  The  perplexity  gained  on  him,  and  eventually 
he  took  out  and  put  on  his  new  clothes,  only  worn  on 
festa  days,  which  were  thoroughly  unsuitable  for  rough 
fishing  by  night.  He  brushed  his  hair  with  extreme 
care,  and  wished  it  was  sleek  and  smooth  like  Yanko's, 
instead  of  growing  in  crisp,  strong  curls,  put  his  red  cap 
rakishly  on  the  side  of  his  head,  and  laced  up  his  brown 
cloth  leggings  to  the  very  top.  All  this  was  done  with 
the  greatest  precision  and  seriousness,  and  he  went  down- 
stairs on  tiptoe  for  fear  of  wakening  his  father,  who  was 
already  abed,  and  had  left  injunctions  with  him  to  lock 
the  door  and  take  the  key  with  him  if  he  was  likely  to 
be  late. 

It  was  about  half-past  ten  when  he  set  off,  and  the 
122 


THE    VINEYARD 

moon  had  risen.  It  took  him  an  hour  or  more  to  reach 
the  dim,  white  wall,  for  the  breeze  was  yet  but  light  and 
variable.  As  he  neared  it  he  began  to  feel  his  heart 
pulsing  in  his  throat,  as  it  had  done  one  night  before 
when  he  passed  the  scene  of  the  hanging  by  the  wayside, 
but  somehow  differently,  and  he  peered  out  anxiously 
into  the  darkness  to  see  if  there  was  any  one  there. 
Something  white  glimmered  on  the  wall,  down  went  his 
sail,  and  a  few  minutes  later  the  nose  of  his  boat  grated 
against  the  stone-work. 

She  gave  a  little  chuckling  laugh. 

"I  thought  you  would  come,''  she  said,  "on  the  first 
night  of  stars.  They  are  all  in  bed.  I  listened  at  Mo- 
hammed's door ;  he  was  Mohammed  no  more — only  a 
grunt  and  a  snore." 

Mitsos  said  nothing,  but  threw  the  ladder  and  rope  on 
the  wall  and  sprang  up  himself. 

''Yes,  I  have  come,"  he  said.  ''Ah,  how  I  have  been 
cursing  this  rain — may  the  saints  forgive  me! — but  I 
cared  not,  and  cursed." 

Suleima  looked  at  him  a  moment. 

"Why,  how  smart  you  are!"  she  said.  "Is  it  the 
Greek  use  that  a  man  goes  fishing  in  his  best  clothes  ? 
Oh,  my  clean  fustanella !"  she  cried,  looking  sideways 
on  him. 

Mitsos  smiled.  The  best  clothes  had  been  a  good 
thought,  in  spite  of  a  momentary  confusion. 

"  Hush  !"  he  whispered,  "  we  will  talk  in  the  boat.  I 
will  hold  the  ladder.     There,  it  is  quite  steady." 

The  girl  stepped  lightly  down  the  rungs,  and  Mit- 
sos, directing  her  to  sit  still,  threw  the  ladder  and 
rope  back  and  let  himself  down  onto  the  side  of  the 
boat. 

"Where  shall  we  go  to-night  ?"  he  asked. 
123 


THE    VINTAGE 

The  girl  laughed  gently — the  echo^  as  it  were,  of  a 
laugh. 

''  Oh,  out,  out  to  sea,"  she  said  ;  "right  away  from  this 
horrible  place.     Where  shall  I  sit  ?" 

Mitsos  took  the  pillow  out  of  the-  net  and  put  it  for 
her  at  the  stern  of  the  boat. 

''  See,"  he  said.  ''  I  remembered  that  you  said  the  net 
smelled  fishy,  and  I  have  brought  you  my  pillow  to  sit 
on.  There — is  there  a  more  comfortable  seat  in  all 
Greece  ?" 

She  sat  down,  and  the  boy  busied  himself  with  the 
boat  for  a  few  minutes.  He  had  to  row  out  a  dozen 
strokes  or  so  until  they  got  from  under  the  lee  of  the 
wall,  and  the  wind,  catching  the  sail,  slowly  bulged  it 
out  taut ;  the  boat  dipped  and  bowed  a  moment  and 
then  began  to  move  quickly  forward  towards  the  mouth 
of  the  bay.  He  stood  a  few  seconds  irresolute  until 
Suleima  spoke. 

*^Well,  have  you  finished  ?"  she  asked. 

"Yes.  We  shall  run  straight  before  the  wind  as  far 
as  you  like." 

She  pointed  with  her  hand  to  the  seat  beside  her. 

"  Come  and  sit  by  me,"  she  said. 

There  was  silence  between  them  for  several  minutes — 
she  with  a  smile  hiding  in  the  depths  of  her  dark  eyes ; 
he,  serious  and  tongue-tied.  The  air  was  full  of  the 
freshness  of  the  night  and  of  the  sea,  but  across  that 
there  came  to  him  some  faint  odor  from  her — a  warm 
smell  of  a  live  thing,  too  delicate  to  describe.  Then  she 
drew  from  her  pocket  a  small  box  and  opened  it. 

"See  what  I  have  brought  you,"  she  said — "Rahat-la- 
koom.  How  do  you  call  it  in  Greece  ?  Sweets,  anyhow. 
Do  you  like  sweets  ?" 

She  took  a  lump  of  the  sticky,  fragrant  stufip  out  of  the 
124 


THE    VINEYAKD 

box  and  offered  it  to  Mitsos  as  a  child  offers  sweets  to 
another  child. 

*'  Do  you  li(^e  it  ?"  she  asked  again.  *'  Abdul  gave  me 
the  stuff  last  night.  I  was  afraid  when  he  gave  it  to  me, 
but  he  did  not  stop.  As  I  told  you,  I  am  not  of  the 
harem." 

Mitsos  flushed.  Suleima  spoke  with  the  naivete  of  a 
child,  and  yet  somehow  it  made  him  ashamed  to  think 
that  even  he  was  sitting  alone  with  her,  and  furious  at 
the  thought  that  that  fat  Turk,  whom  he  had  seen  at 
Nauplia  only  a  few  days  before,  should  dare  to  give  her 
sweets. 

"How  silent  you  are,  Mitsos!"  she  went  on.  **Tell 
me  whafc  you  have  been  doing  all  this  time.  For  me,  I 
have  done  nothing — nothing — nothing.  I  have  never 
been  so  dull." 

Mitsos  looked  up  suddenly. 

"Are  you  less  dull  now  ?"  he  said.  "Do  you  care  to 
come  out  like  this  with  me  ?" 

"  Surely,  or  else  I  should  not  come.  I  think  I  have 
even  missed  you,  which  is  odd,  for  I  never  missed  any 
one  before.  I  care  for  none  of  those  in  the  house,  and 
some  I  hate." 

Mitsos  took  her  hand  in  his. 

"Promise  you  will  never  hate  me,"  he  said. 

Suleima  laughed. 

"That  is  a  big  thing  to  promise,"  she  said,  "for 
'never'  is  the  greatest  of  all  words,  greater  even  than 
'always';  but  I  don't  feel  as  if  I  should  ever  hate  you.  I 
liked  you  since  the  first,  even  before  I  had  ever  seen 
you,  when  you  sang  that  song  out  of  the  darkness.  It 
was  very  rash  and  foolish  of  you,  for  Abdul  would  make 
nothing  of  having  a  sailor-boy  shot.  Supposing  I  had 
been — well,  some  one  else — I  should  have  told  Abdul, 

125 


THE    VINTAGE 

and   thus   there  would   have   been   no   more   songs   for 
Mitsos." 

"But  because  it  was  you,  you  did  not  ?'i  asked  Mitsos, 
awkwardly.  '^  Yet  if  it  had  not  been  you,  I  should  not 
have  sung  to  you/' 

The  girFs  hand  still  rested  in  his,  but  suddenly  she 
disengaged  it. 

**You  are  talking  nonsense,"  she  said,  quickly,  yet 
finding  nonsense  somehow  delightful ;  "  of  course,  if 
you  had  not  sung  to  me  you  would  not  have  sung  to 
me.     By  the  way,  Zuleika — " 

She  stopped  suddenly. 

"Who  is  Zuleika  ?"  said  Mitsos  ;  "and  what  of  her  ?" 

*'0h,  nothing.  Zuleika  is  the  woman  who  watched 
to  see  that  no  one  came  while  we  talked.  She's  quite 
old,  you  know,  though  not  as  old  as  Abdul.  Well,  why 
shouldn't  I  tell  you  ?  Zuleika  is  getting  impatient  for 
her  payment.  She  watched  four  times,  she  said,  but  I 
am  sure  it  was  only  three.     Won't  you  pay  her  ?" 

Mitsos  got  up  and  stood  in  front  of  her. 

"  Zuleika,  what  is  Zuleika  to  me  ?"  he  said  again. 

The  girl  stared  at  him  for  a  moment.  "  Are  you 
angry,  Mitsos  ?  Why  should  you  be  angry  ?  But — 
but—" 

Mitsos  turned  away  impatiently. 

"  Why  are  you  angry  ?"  repeated  the  girl.  "  Is  it 
because  of  what  Zuleika  said  ?  I  told  you  because  I 
thought  it  would  please  you.  Most  men,  I  think,  would 
like  to  hear  that  sort  of  thing.  Zuleika  says  you  are  the 
handsomest  boy  she  ever  saw,  and  she  is  pretty  herself — 
at  least  I  suppose  she  is  pretty." 

Mitsos  had  the  most  admirable  temper,  and  though  it 
had  been  touched  in  a  quarter  where  he  could  not  have 
anticipated  attack,  he  regained  it  in  a  moment. 

126 


THE    VINEYARD 

"Never  mind  Ziileika,"  he  said,  sitting  down  again; 
''  go  on  talking  to  me.  I  like  to  hear  you  talk,  and  give 
me  your  hand  again.  Put  it  in  mine  ;  it  is  so  soft  and 
white.     I  never  saw  a  hand  like  yours  !" 

Suleima  laughed. 

''There  you  are,  then.  Oh,  Mitsos,  don't  squeeze  it 
so ;  you  hurt  me  !  What  shall  I  talk  about  ?  I  have 
nothing  to  talk  about.  Nothing  ever  happened  to  me. 
Zuleika—'' 

"Don't  talk  about  Zuleika  !"  said  Mitsos,  between  his 
teeth. 

"  Well,  you  told  me  to  talk.  I  don't  want  to  talk  about 
Zuleika.  Oh,  Mitsos,  look  h(5w  far  we  are  out !  There 
is  Nauplia  behind  us.     We  must  go  back  !" 

"No,  not  yet." 

"But  we  must  I  It  will  take  us  an  hour  or  more  to 
get  back  !     Please  let  us  go  back,  Mitsos  ?" 

Mitsos  sat  still  a  moment. 

"Tell  me  you  don't  want  to  go  back,"  he  said,  in  a 
whisper. 

"  Of  course  I  don't ;  why  should  I  tell  you  that  ?  I 
should  like  to  be  thus  with  you  always,  you  alone,  and 
no  other." 

Mitsos  sprang  up. 

"I'll  put  about,"  he  said. 

There  were  two  or  three  moments  of  confusion,  as  the 
heavy  sail  flapped  and  shook.  The  wind  had  veered  a 
point  towards  the  east,  and  they  could  get  back  in  a 
couple  of  tacks.  Mitsos  stood  up  till  the  boat  had 
settled  down  on  the  homeward  journey,  and  then,  with  the 
tiller  in  one  hand,  he  sat  down  again  by  Suleima's  side. 

"  It  will  be  fine  weather  now,"  he  said,  "  and  will  you 
come  out  with  me  again  ?    You  tell  me  you  like  it." 

Suleima  nestled  a  little  closer  to  him.  "Yes,  I  like 
127 


THE    VINTAGE 

it/^  she  said,  "but  we  must  not  go  too  often.  But  if  you 
care  to,  you  can  come  to  the  wall  in  fine  weather  always, 
and  I  will  tell  you  whether  it  is  possible.  And,  Mitsos, 
next  time  we  go  out  bring  your  spear  and  resin,  and  let 
me  see  you  fish.  I  should  like  to  see  you  do  that.  Do 
you  catch  many  ?" 

*'The  devil  fly  away  with  the  fish  I"  said  Mitsos.  "I 
would  sooner  talk  to  you." 

*^  How  funny  !  I  would  sooner  you  fished  ;  and,  you 
see,  we  can  talk,  too.     Will  you  let  me  help  ?" 

Mitsos  took  up  one  of  her  hands  again. 

"It  would  be  a  heavy  net  you  could  draw  in  !"  he  said. 
"You  have  never  felt  the^tug  of  a  shoal." 

"  A  whole  shoal  ?"  asked  Suleima.  "  How  many  fish 
go  to  the  shoal  ?" 

Mitsos  laughed.  "Fifty  for  each  of  your  fingers,"  he 
said,  "  and  a  hundred  to  spare.  Sometimes  they  all  swim 
together  against  the  net,  and  though  they  are  very  little, 
many  of  them  are  strong,  and  pull  like  a  horse.  I  cut 
my  finger  to  the  bone  once  against  the  net-rope.  Look, 
here  is  the  mark." 

He  held  up  his  great  brown  hand,  and  Suleima  traced 
with  her  little  finger  a  white  scar  running  up  to  the 
second  joint  of  his  forefinger. 

"  How  horrid  !"  she  said,  concernedly,  still  drawing  her 
finger  up  and  down  his.     "Did  it  bleed  much  ?" 

"  Half  a  bucketful.  I  must  put  the  boat  on  the  other 
tack.     Take  care;  the  sail  will  come  across  again." 

The  air  struck  cold  as  they  went  more  into  the  wind, 
and  Suleima  wrapped  her  black  bernouse  more  closely 
round  her  and  nestled  under  shelter  of  the  lad. 

"  You  are  cold  ?"  he  asked,  suddenly. 

"  No,  Mitsos,  not  if  you  sit  like  that.  But  isn't  it  ice 
to  you  ?    Have  another  piece  of  Rahat-la-koom  ?" 

138 


SHE  KISSED   HIM  LIGHTLY  ON  THE   FOREHEAD 


THE    VINEYAED 

Mitsos  grinned,  showing  his  white  teeth.  ''That 
will  keep  out  the  cold  finely/'  he  said.  ''  Give  it  me 
yourself  !" 

They  were  rapidly  approaching  the  wall,  and  in  ten  min- 
utes more  Mitsos  stood  up  and  took  in  the  sail.  The  speed, 
slackened,  and,  standing  at  the  bows,  he  leaned  forward, 
and,  thrusting  out  with  the  pole,  he  brought  the  boat 
alongside.  Then,  springing  up  again,  with  the  rope  in 
his  hand,  he  told  Suleima  to  throw  him  up  the  end  of 
the  ladder.  This  he  held  down  with  his  foot  on  the  far 
side  of  the  wall  while  she  climbed  up,  pleasantly  feeling 
the  muscles  of  his  leg  strain  as  she  stepped  onto  the  rope. 

The  ground  on  the  inside  was  a  foot  or  two  below  the 
top  of  the  wall,  and,  standing  on  the  top  a  moment  be- 
fore stepping  down,  she  suddenly  bent  her  head  down  to 
him,  and,  brushing  back  his  curls  with  her  hand,  kissed 
him  lightly  on  the  forehead. 

''  Good-night,  little  Mitsos,"  she  whispered. 

Then  all  in  a  flash  her  face  flushed.  "  Mitsos,"  she 
said,  quickly,  and  with  a  curious  shyness,  "promise  me 
you  will  never  kiss  Zuleika ;  she  is  an  old  witch  !"  and 
without  waiting  for  his  reply  she  ran  across  to  the  dark 
house. 

Mitsos  sat  perfectly  still,  tingling  and  alert,  and  he 
felt  the  blood  throb  and  beat  in  his  temples.  He  half 
started  from  his  place  to  run  after  her,  and  half  raised 
his  voice  to  call,  but  remembered  in  time  that  he  was 
close  to  the  Turk's  house.  Something  which  let  the 
two  sit  together  like  children  was  dead,  but  something 
had  taken  its  place,  and  his  heart  sang  to  him. 

He  dropped  down  again  into  the  boat,  and  for  half  an 
hour  more  he  sat  there  without  stirring,  hearing  the  rip- 
ples tap  against  the  side,  and  seeing  them  break  in  dim 
phosphorescent  gleams  of  light.  Then,  with  wonder 
I  129 


THE    VINTAGE 

on  his  lips  and  a  smile  in  his  eyes,  he  went  silently  home 
through  the  still  night. 

It  was  the  night  of  the  1st  of  January,  1821,  and  Mit- 
sos  and  Suleima  were  again  sailing  across  the  bay ;  this 
time,  however,  not  out  to  sea,  but  to  the  shelving  bays 
underneath  the  Tripoli  hills,  the  scene  of  the  fishing 
with  Nicholas.  It  was  the  first  time  the  two  had  been 
able  to  go  out  together  since  the  night  last  recorded,  for 
on  that  occasion  Suleima  had  been  caught  by  the  eunuch 
coming  in  from  the  garden.  Luckily  for  them  both, 
Mitsos  had  not  been  seen,  and  her  excuse  was  that  she 
had  a  headache  and  could  not  sleep,  so  had  sat  in  the 
garden  for  a  while.  Nothing  more  could  be  got  out  of 
her,  and  Zuleika,  for  one  reason  or  another,  had  been 
loyal  enough  to  preserve  silence.  But  Suleima  got 
beaten,  and  she  judged  it  more  prudent  not  to  have 
any  more  headaches  for  a  time.  But  as  the  fate  that 
watches  over  wooings  would  have  it,  one  night  a  fort- 
night afterwards  the  eunuch  was  found  drunk,  a  par- 
ticularly heinous  crime,  and,  to  one  of  his  religion,  blas- 
phemous ;  and  he  was,  therefore,  dismissed.  Suleima  was 
sedulous  to  note  the  habits  of  his  successor,  and  observed 
with  much  approval  that  he  went  to  bed  early  and  slept 
soundly,  and  at  length  she  ventured  to  resume  her  ex- 
cursions. She  had  more  leisure  than  usual  after  her 
detection,  for  she  was  solitary  behind  lock  and  key ;  she 
had  no  sweets  to  eat,  and  her  thoughts  were  ever  with 
Mitsos.  She,  who  had  hardly  seen  a  man,  and  had  cer- 
tainly never  in  the  last  ten  years  spoken  to  one  except 
to  the  black,  thick-lipped  eunuch  and  Abdul  Achmet, 
whose  small,  sensual  eyes  looked  at  her  like  a  mole's 
about  his  fat,  pendulous  cheeks,  could  hardly  believe  that 
they  and  Mitsos,  with  his  sun-browned,  boyish  face  and 
fit,  slender  limbs,  were  creatures  of  the  same  race.     From 

130 


THE    VINEYARD 

the  first  time  that  she  had  seen  him  only  dimly  as  he 
sat  in  his  boat,  swaying  regularly  and  gracefully  to  its 
motion,  and  heard  him  singing  the  old  song  which  she 
remembered  from  her  childhood,  she  had  thought  how 
charming  it  would  be  to  live  on  his  pattern,  as  free  as 
the  spring  swallows,  wholesomely  and  cleanly  in  the 
open  air.  Surely  he  had  caught  something,  indefinable 
perhaps,  but  none  the  less  certain,  from  wind  and  sun — 
a  something  which  reminded  her  of  a  clear,  light  sum- 
mer morning,  when  it  was  so  pleasant  to  come  out  of 
the  close,  perfumed  house,  to  have  a  breath  of  a  more 
airy  fragrance  thrown  at  her  by  the  sea-breeze,  and  feel 
with  a  cool  shock  a  few  dew-drops  from  the  great 
climbing  rose  about  the  door  shaken  onto  the  bare 
flesh  by  the  wind ;  for,  unlike  the  Turks,  she  came 
of  an  outdoor  race,  and  the  inherited  instinct  had  not 
been  altogether  eradicated  by  her  hot -house,  enclosed 
life. 

Then  by  degrees  this  feeling  had  grown  less  general, 
but  more  personal.  It  was  doubly  delightful  to  be  able 
to  talk  confidentially  and  naturally,  as  one  child  talks  to 
another,  to  some  one  of  her  own  age.  She  liked  talking 
to  Zuleika,  but  she  preferred  talking  to  Mitsos ;  it  was 
a  pleasure  to  make  him  laugh  and  show  the  milkiness 
of  his  white  teeth,  and  she  could  always  make  him  laugh. 
Zuleika  had  hideous  teeth ;  one  was  all  black  and  dis- 
colored, and  for  whole  days  together  she  would  sit,  a 
sloppy,  dishevelled  object,  by  the  fire,  saying  it  ached. 
She  felt  quite  sure  that  Mitsos'  teeth  never  ached,  and 
for  herself  she  did  not  know  what  aching  meant.  Again, 
when  Abdul  Achmet  laughed,  his  cheeks  wrinkled  up 
till  his  eyes  were  nearly  closed,  and  two  queerest  little 
dimples  were  dug  one  on  each  side  of  his  mouth.  What 
would  happen,  she  had  thought  once,  if  she  made  him 

131 


THE    VINTAGE 

laugh  and  then  held  his  eyes  open  so  that  they  could 
not  shut  ?     She  would  have  liked  to  try. 

Then  Mitsos — she  felt  it  in  her  bones — evidently  liked 
her  very  much,  in  quite  a  different  way  from  which  any 
one  had  liked  her  before.  Zuleika  liked  her  in  a  tepid, 
intermittent  manner ;  but  when  her  tooth  ached  she 
ignored  her  altogether,  and  had  once  slapped  her  in  the 
face  for  a  too  obtrusive  sympathy.  And  when  Abdul 
came  and  took  her  chin  between  his  fingers  and  turned 
up  her  face  to  his,  and  told  her  that  she  was  getting  very 
pretty,  she  turned  cold  all  over.  It  reminded  her  of  the 
way  he  had  pointed  at  one  of  the  turkeys  in  the  yard 
and  said  it  was  becoming  beautifully  fat.  Again,  it  had 
been  quite  unaccountably  delightful  to  sit  close  to  Mitsos 
and  shelter  under  him  from  the  wind,  to  be  close  to  him 
and  know  him  near.  Finally,  when  they  parted  thnt 
night,  and  she  had  brushed  back  the  curls  from  his  fore- 
head and  kissed  him,  her  feeling  had  been  more  unac- 
countable still.  She  had  done  it  unthinkingly,  but  the 
moment  it  was  done  a  whole  mill-race  of  thoughts  went 
bubbling  unbidden  through  her  head.  She  wanted  to 
do  it  again,  she  wanted  him  to  take  her  in  his  arms  and 
press  her  close  to  him — she  would  not  mind  if  it  hurt. 
She  hated  Zuleika.  She  understood  in  a  moment  why, 
if  Mitsos  knew  the  least  part  of  what  she  felt,  he  should 
have  been  angry  when  she  told  him  what  Zuleika  said, 
and  the  next  words  had  come  out  of  her  mouth  outstrip- 
ping, so  it  seemed,  her  thought.  Then  she  had  felt 
suddenly  shy  and  frightened  ;  she  longed  to  stop  where , 
she  was,  for  surely  Mitsos  understood  what  was  so  in- 
timate to  her.  And  so,  being  a  woman,  she  instantly 
ran  away,  and  never  looked  behind. 

To-night  she  had  sat  by  the  wall  for  half  an  hour  be- 
fore he  came,  and  the  thought  that  perhaps  he  would 

133 


THE    VINEYARD 

not  come  had  brought  into  her  eyes  silent,  childish  tears. 
He  must  come  ;  she  could  not  do  without  him.  Eor 
herself  she  would  have  sat  on  the  wall  every  night  for 
months  to  go  out  with  him  ;  surely  he  could  not  be  tired 
in  a  week  or  two  of  coming  and  not  finding  her  there. 
But  with  the  rising  of  the  moon  she  had  seen  a  sail  far 
away  that  got  nearer,  and  at  last  the  boat  grated  gently 
against  the  wall. 

**Is  it  you,  Mitsos  ?"  she  whispered,  and  for  answer 
the  rope  was  flung  up  to  her,  and  her  young,  black-eyed 
lover  sprang  to  her  side.  She  descended  the  ladder 
silently  and  stood  in  the  stern,  while  he  joined  her,  and 
with  a  vigorous  push  they  were  floating  again  alone  in 
the  centre  of  the  vast,  dim  immensity.  He  set  the  sail 
and  came  and  stood  in  front  of  her. 

'' Suleima,"  he  whispered,  **last  time  you  kissed  me. 
Will  you  let  me  kiss  you  ?" 

''  Yes,  Mitsos,"  she  said,  with  a  great,  shy,  bold  joy  in 
her  heart,  and  put  her  face  up,  and  he  would  have  kissed 
her  lightly  on  the  forehead  as  she  had  kissed  him.  But 
suddenly  that  was  impossible  ;  they  were  no  longer  chil- 
dren, but  lovers,  and  the  next  moment  his  arms  Avere 
flung  round  her  neck,  her  mouth  pressed  close  to  his, 
and  each  kiss  left  them  hungrier  for  the  next. 

The  wind  was  straight  behind  them,  and  they  sat  where 
they  had  sat  before,  and  talked  in  low  voices  as  if  in  fear 
of  the  jealousy  of  the  stars  and  the  night.  Mitsos  had 
got  his  fishing-spear  and  bag  of  resin  on  board,  and  after 
a  while,  at  Suleima's  suggestion,  they  went  straight  before 
the  wind  to  the  bay,  where  Mitsos  said  he  could  catch 
fish  if  she  cared  to  see  him.  Half  an  hour's  sail  brought 
them  across,  and,  grounding  the  boat  by  a  bush  of  black- 
thorn that  grew  thick  on  the  top  of  the  rocks  on  the 
edge  of  the  tideless  sea,  he  took  Suleima  in  his  arms 

133 


THE    VINTAGE 

and  waded  through  the  shallow  water  to  the  head  of 
the  bay  where  he  would  fish,  to  save  her  the  tramp 
through  the  undergrowth,  which  was  thick  and  soaked 
with  the  night  dews.  She  was  but  a  feather's  weight  in 
his  strong  arms,  her  head  lay  on  his  shoulder,  and  she 
threw  one  arm  round  his  neck  for  greater  security.  He 
made  her  a  nest  under  a  clump  of  rushes  that  grew  on 
the  edge  of  the  dry  sand,  and  then  went  back  for  his 
fishing  things.  To  carry  Suleima  to  land,  he  had  only 
the  shallowest  water  at  the  edge  of  the  sea  to  walk 
through,  and  he  had  just  turned  up  the  bottom  of  his 
trousers ;  but  where  he  was  going  to  fish  it  would  be 
deeper,  and,  as  usual,  he  slipped  them  off,  buckling  his 
shirt,  which  reached  to  his  knees,  round  his  waist.  He 
then  lit  his  flare,  and,  stepping  off  into  the  deeper  water, 
which  was  half-thigh  deep,  he  went  slowly  along,  peering 
cautiously  at  the  bright  circle  of  light  cast  by  the  resin. 

Fish  were  plentiful,  and  Suleima,  from  her  nest  near, 
clapped  her  hands  and  laughed  delightedly  when  Mitsos 
speared  one  larger  than  usual,  and  held  it  up  flapping 
and  wriggling  to  show  her.  She  got  so  excited  in  his 
proceedings  that  she  left  her  seat,  and  walked  along  the 
edge  of  the  sand  parallel  with  him,  observing  with  the 
keenest  interest  what  he  did.  Then,  when  she  got  tired 
of  watching,  Mitsos  declared  he  was  tired  of  fishing,  and 
waded  to  shore  with  a  creel  full  of  fish. 

Suleima  had  brought  with  her  some  Turkish  tobacco, 
which  she  had  taken  from  the  house,  and  gave  it  to  Mitsos 
to  smoke.  The  other  women  of  the  harem  all  smoked, 
she  said ;  for  herself  she  had  tried  it  once,  but  thought 
it  horrid  to  the  taste.  But  Mitsos  might  smoke  it — yes, 
she  would  even  light  his  pipe  for  him  ;  and  with  a  little 
pout  of  disgust  she  lit  it  at  the  flare  and  handed  it  to 
him,  and  he  smoked  it  while  they  looked  the  fish  over. 

134 


f 
THE    VINEYARD 

It  was  a  night  for  the  great  lovers  of  romance  to  bo 
abroad  in ;  the  air  was  of  a  wonderful  briskness,  making 
the  pulse  go  quick,  yet  gentle  and  soft ;  the  moon  had 
set  behind  the  hills  to  the  west,  and  they  sat  close  to- 
gether beneath  the  wonderful  twilight  of  stars,  in  a  little 
sheltered  nook  beneath  a  great  clump  of  tall,  singing 
rushes.  On  the  ground,  in  front,  lay  the  resin  flare,  al- 
ready burning  low ;  but  as  Mitsos  would  fish  no  more 
that  night  he  did  not  replenish  it.  Lower  and  lower  it 
burned,  but  now  and  then  it  would  shoot  up  with  a  sud- 
den leap  of  flame,  revealing  each  to  the  other,  and  Su- 
leima  would  smile  at  Mitsos ;  but  before  she  could  see 
his  mouth  smile  in  answer,  the  flame  would  die  down 
again  into  a  flickering  spot  on  the  glowing,  bubbling  ash. 
But  in  the  darkness  she  knew  he  smiled  back  at  her ; 
a  whispered  word  Avould  pass  from  one  to  the  other,  and 
the  last  flicker  of  flame  showed  a  lover  to  the  sight  of 
each.  Then  drawing  closer  in  the  darkness,  as  if  by 
some  law  which  was  moving  each  equally,  their  lips  met 
again  in  the  kiss  that  seemed  to  have  never  ceased  be- 
tween them.  And  the  wind  sang  gently  in  the  rushes, 
while  before  them  spread  the  broad  waters  of  the  bay, 
just  curdled  over  by  the  breeze  ;  above,  the  austere  stars 
burned  down  on  them ;  behind,  rose  the  empty-wooded 
hills,  where  once  the  soft  armies  of  Dionysus  revelled  in 
love  and  wine,  rising  into  the  peaks  above  Tripoli. 

The  wind  dropped  for  a  moment,  the  rushes  were 
silent,  and  in  the  lull  Mitsos  heard  a  mule  bell  behind 
them  no  great  way  off.  He  sat  up  and  peered  across  the 
vine-grown  strip  of  plain  which  lay  between  them  and 
the  mountain,  but  the  skeins  of  night  mist  hung  opaque 
and  pearly  gray  above  it. 

In  a  few  minutes,  however,  the  sound  got  sensibly 
135 


THE    VINTAGE 

nearer,  and  the  two  rose  and  moved  a  score  of  yards  far- 
ther down  the  beach,  for  a  footpath  round  the  head  of 
the  bay  to  Nauplia  led  across  the  top  of  it.  Then  across 
the  sound  of  the  bell  they  could  hear  the  pattering  foot- 
steps of  the  mule,  and  in  a  few  minutes  more  it  and  its 
rider  emerged  from  the  path  which  lay  through  the  vine- 
yards onto  the  open  ground  at  the  head  of  the  beach. 
Just  then  the  rider  checked  his  beast,  dismounted,  and 
tied  some  grass  round  the  tongue  of  the  bell  in  order  to 
muffle  it,  and  struck  a  light  with  a  flint  and  steel  which 
he  caught  in  tinder,  and  blew  it  gently  till  it  sufficed  to 
light  his  short  chibouk.  His  face  was  towards  them,  and 
in  the  glow  of  the  kindled  tobacco  it  stood  out  vividly 
from  the  dark.     It  was  Nicholas. 

He  mounted  again  and  rode  on,  but  Mitsos  sat  still, 
breathing  hard  and  vacantly,  and  seeing  only  Nicholas's 
face  standing  out  like  a  ghost  in  the  darkness.  Suleima 
touched  him  gently  on  the  arm. 

'^Who  was  it  ?"  she  said.     "He  did  not  see  us.'' 

"  It  was  my  uncle,"  said  Mitsos,  in  a  dry  voice.  "  No, 
he  did  not  see  us." 

Then  his  self-control  gave  way,  and  he  flung  himself 
back  on  the  ground. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  he  said — "I  do  not  know  what  is  going 
to  happen.     He  has  come  for  me.     I  know  it." 

"For  you  ?"  asked  Suleima.     "What  do  you  mean  V 

"  I  shall  have  to  go,"  said  Mitsos.  "  Holy  Virgin,  but 
I  cannot.  I  know  nothing  about  what  he  wants  me  to 
do.  I  only  know  that  I  may  —  that  I  shall  have  to  go 
away ;  that  I  shall  have  to  leave  you  and  perhaps  never 
see  you  again.     Oh,"  he  cried,  "  I  cannot,  I  cannot !" 

Suleima  was  frightened. 

"Mitsos,  do  not  talk  like  that,"  she  said,  half  sobbing ; 
"  do  not  be  so  unkind." 

136 


THE    VINEYARD 

Mitsos  recovered  himself  and  felt  ashamed. 

^'  Oh,  dearest  of  all  and  littlest,"  he  said,  soothingly, 
''I  am  a  stupid  brute  to  frighten  you.  Everything  will 
be  all  right — I  will  come  back — it  is  sure  that  I  will  come 
back.  Only  I  promised  him  to  do  what  he  told  me,  and 
help  him  in  something — it  does  not  matter  what — and  I 
expect  he  has  come  to  tell  me  he  wants  my  help." 

''Will  not  you  tell  me  what  it  is?"  asked  Suleima, 
willing  to  be  comforted. 

"No,  I  promised  I  would  keep  it  secret.  But  this  I 
may  tell  you.  You  know  they  say — never  repeat  this — 
that  the  Greeks  are  going  to  rise  against  the  Turks  and 
turn  them  out.  There  may  be  fighting  and  bloodshed. 
But  you  hate  the  Turks  as  much  as  I  do,  darling,  so  you 
will  be  as  glad  as  I  if  this  comes  true.  Perhaps  it  might 
even  happen  that  Abdul's  house  may  be  attacked,  but 
you  are  quite  safe  if  you  will  only  do  one  thing.  If  ever 
it  is  attacked  do  not  be  afraid,  but  call  out  in  Greek 
that  you  are  a  Greek  and  no  Turk.  And,  oh,  Suleima, 
pray  to  the  Virgin  and  the  Blessed  Child  that  that  day 
may  come  soon,  for  it  will  be  thus  and  then  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  go  together  always." 

"  Is  it  about  that  you  are  going  away  ?"  said  Suleima, 
with  a  sudden  intuition. 

Mitsos  longed  to  tell  her,  but  his  promise  to  Nicholas 
kept  him  dumb.  Then,  as  he  had  to  answer,  he  lied 
boldly  and  unreservedly. 

''It  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it,"  he  said. 
"  But  oh,  Suleima,  forgive  me  for  so  frightening  you — I 
did  not  mean  what  I  said.  And  will  you  come  to  the 
wall  again  as  often  as  you  can  ?  I  may  have  to  go  away 
— indeed,  I  am  afraid  that  is  sure,  but  I  do  not  know  for 
how  long.  The  first  night  I  am  back  I  shall  come  again 
to  the  wall,  the  dear  white  wall  where  we  first  met." 

137 


THE    VINTAGE 

Suleima  felt  quite  comforted.  She  was  sure  that  noth- 
ing could  go  really  wrong  as  long  as  Mitsos  drew  breath, 
and  she  bent  down  his  head  and  kissed  him. 

*^  Yes,  Mitsos,  I  will  come  to  the  wall  whenever  I  can, 
hoping  only  that  you  may  be  there,  because,  you  know, 
I  care  for  you  more  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  And 
now  carry  me  back  to  the  boat,  strong-armed  one.  It  is 
time  I  went  back." 

Mitsos  stooped  and  lifted  her  up.  As  his  hands  were 
full,  he  hung  the  creel  round  his  neck,  and  Suleima 
carried  the  extinguished  flare.  His  heart  was  a  dead 
weight  within  him,  for  he  felt  certain  why  Nicholas  had 
come  ;  but  he  was  apparently  his  old  cheery  self,  and 
Suleima  forgot  about  the  rather  disquieting  moments 
just  after  Nicholas  had  passed.  What  he  should  do  he 
could  not  form  the  least  idea ;  at  present  it  seemed  to 
him  impossible  that  he  should  go  away  and  leave  her. 
He  felt  willing  to  throw  to  the  winds  all  he  had  promised 
Nicholas.  Nicholas  had  told  him  that  he  should  be  one 
of  the  foremost  of  his  country's  avengers.  He  shrugged 
his  shoulders,  for  just  now  the  desire  for  vengeance  on 
Turks  was  less  than  the  memory  of  a  dream.  Were  there 
not  plenty  of  others  to  avenge  Greece  ?  Why  should  he 
give  up  all  that  was  dearest  to  him,  this  dear  burden  that 
was  his,  and  go  out  on  an  undesired  adventure  ? 

But  as  long  as  Suleima  was  with  him  he  stifled  all 
these  thoughts,  while  the  boat  skimmed  seawards  on  the 
outward  tack.  They  put  about  opposite  the  island  and 
ran  straight  for  the  wall.  The  wind  had  freshened,  and 
to  Mitsos  the  boat  seemed  to  be  going  terribly  fast,  for 
he  grudged  each  moment.  But  he  had  quite  lulled 
Suleima's  disquietude,  if  not  his  own,  and  she  lay  with 
her  head  on  his  shoulder,  half  asleep,  looking  up  now  and 
then  into  his  wide-open  eyes,  and  pressing  her  arm  more 

138 


THE    VINEYARD 

closely  round  his  neck.  He  had  to  rouse  her  when  he 
must  get  up  to  take  in  the  sail,  and  she  smiled  at  him 
sleepily  like  a  child  just  wakened. 

Then  he  fixed  the  ladder,  and  she  climbed  up,  clung 
to  him  for  a  moment  without  words,  for  there  was  no 
need  of  speech  between  them,  and  went  quickly  and 
silently  across  the  garden. 

It  was  after  two  when  Mitsos  landed  opposite  his  house, 
and  he  saw  with  some  surprise  that  there  were  lights  still 
burning.  He  opened  the  door,  and,  bending  his  head  to 
pass  under  the  low  jamb,  entered.  Constantine  and 
Nicholas  were  sitting  there,  Constantine  silent,  Nicholas 
talking  eagerly,  and  Mitsos  observed  that  he  held  his 
pipe  unlit  in  his  hand.  His  uncle  sprang  up  when  he 
came  in. 

^'  Ah,  he  is  here  !  Mitsos,  the  time  has  come.  You 
must  go  at  once." 

Mitsos  looked  at  him  a  moment  steadily  and  silently — 
their  eyes  were  on  a  level — and  then  he  turned  aside  and 
put  down  the  fishing-creel  in  the  corner.  His  decision, 
though  the  result  of  years,  was  the  deed  of  only  a  mo- 
ment. 

Then  he  faced  Nicholas  again. 

^^I  am  ready,"  he  said  ;  "  tell  me  what  I  have  to  do." 


part  iri 
THE   EVE   OF   THE   GATHERING 


CHAPTER  I 

MITSOS   MEETS   HIS   COUSIISTS 

Since  August  Nicholas  had  been  travelling  about 
the  Peloponnesus,  being  received  everywhere  with  a 
sober,  secret  welcome  as  one  of  the  accredited  lead- 
ers of  the  revolution.  The  Turks,  through  whose  Kis- 
met the  truth  of  the  ever-increasing  rumors  had  begun 
to  break,  had  long  held  him  in  indolent  suspicion,  but 
had  taken  no  steps  to  counteract  the  report  of  his 
death,  for  they  hoped — if  Turks  can  be  said  to  hope — 
somewhat  ingeniously,  but  wholly  mistakenly,  that  such 
news  would  prove  to  be  a  cooling  draught  to  this  ill- 
defined  fever  of  revolution.  The  Greeks,  however,  as 
Germanos  had  said,  knew  '*'  that  Nicholas  was  not  the 
sort  of  man  who  died,'^  and  Turkish  ingenuity  went 
strangely  wide  of  its  aim.  In  fact,  it  enabled  Nicholas 
to  move  about  more  freely,  and  to  take  a  liberal  advan- 
tage of  the  fact  that  he  was  supposed  to  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  war  and  rumor  of  war.  Indeed,  in  October, 
finding  himself  back  at  Corinth,  where  he  had  business 
with  one  of  his  fellow- workers,  he  had  filled  an  idle 
afternoon  with  carving  a  little  wooden  cross  on  which 
he  painted  his  name,  and  below,  with  a  two-handled 
meaning,  the  text,  *^  The  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the 
dead  shall  be  raised."  He  was  to  leave  Corinth  that 
night,  and  after  the  dark  had  fallen  he  and  his  host 
went  to  the  Greek  cemetery  and  planted  this  eloquent 

143 


THE    VINTAGE 

little  monument  over  a  newly  made  grave.  When  it  was 
discovered  it  caused  a  certain  amount  of  intelligent 
amusement  among  the  Greeks  :  but  the  Turks  seemed 
to  miss  the  point  of  the  joke.  Not  even  they  would  have 
dared  to  disturb  a  Greek  cemetery,  for  the  dead  had  in 
their  eyes  a  sacredness  which  the  living  altogether  lack- 
ed ;  and  it  remained  there  for  a  year,  when  subsequent 
events  saw  it  planted  over  the  most  honored  grave  in 
Greece. 

December  and  the  first  half  of  January  Nicholas  had 
spent  in  the  country  of  his  kin,  south  of  Sparta,  and  it 
was  from  there  he  had  fled  in  haste  to  Nauplia,  for  his 
presence  in  Maina,  which  was  notably  patriotic,  had 
become  too  insistent  to  be  disregarded,  and  the  Turk- 
ish governor  of  Tripoli,  Mehemet  Salik,  had  demanded 
of  the  Greek  bey  of  that  district,  Petros  Mavromichales, 
usually  known  as  Petrobey,  that  he  should  be  given  up 
on  the  old  charge  of  brigandage.  Petrobey,  like  Ger- 
manos,  was  of  high  rank,  and  the  Turks  seemed  to  have 
had  no  suspicion  that  he  himself  was  a  leader  of  the 
revolution ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  and  Nicholas, 
who  was  staying  with  him  at  the  time,  read  the  letter 
together  and  consulted  what  should  be  done. 

Nicholas  was  disposed  to  shrug  at  it  altogether,  or 
merely  to  send  back  an  answer  that  he  was  officially 
declared  to  be  dead  and  buried — witness  the  grave  and 
its  monument ;  but  Petrobey  thought  otherwise.  His 
own  usefulness  to  the  cause  was  immensely  increased  by 
the  fact  that  he  at  present  stood  outside  suspicion,  and 
he  advised  Nicholas  to  retire  where  they  were  not  likely 
to  look  for  him,  while  he  himself  would  prosecute  a  vig- 
orous and  indubitably  unsuccessful  search  elsewhere, 
as  an  evidence  of  his  own  unimpeachable  fidelity.  Had 
not  Nicholas  got  a  brother-in-law — his  own  cousin — at 

144    ^ 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

Nauplia  ?  Nauplia  was  an  excellent  hiding-place,  for 
it  was  under  the  very  nose  of  the  Turkish  governor,  and 
people  always  looked  everywhere  else  first.  But  it  would 
be  necessary  to  have  some  extremely  trustworthy  person 
who  could  communicate  between  them;  and  Nicholas 
had  spoken  to  him  of  his  nephew.  This  nephew  lived 
at  Nauplia,  did  he  not  ?  How  very  convenient !  Nicho- 
las should  go  to  Nauplia  and  send  his  nephew  back  to 
Maina,  where  he  could  be  very  useful. 

With  this,  Petrobey  wrote  an  exceedingly  polite  letter 
to  Mehemet  Salik,  saying  that  his  house  was  Mehemet's 
house,  and  that  he  himself  was  honored  by  the  com- 
mands of  the  deputy  of  the  Shadow  of  God.  Nicholas, 
it  was  true,  as  he  had  learned  by  inquiry,  had  been  seen 
lately  in  Maina,  or  so  gossip  would  have  it ;  but  as  they 
had  been  told  that  he  was  dead  not  long  ago  at  Corinth, 
there  might  be  some  confusion  on  this  point.  However, 
the  bearers  of  the  letter  to  the  deputy  of  the  Serene 
Presence  would  be  his  witnesses  that  he  had  sent  out 
twenty  men  to  scour  the  country-side,  and  no  doubt  the 
hound  of  hell,  if  still  alive,  would  be  found.  He  should 
in  this  case  be  sent  with  spitting  to  Tripoli. 

Petrobey  was  the  head  of  the  numerous  and  powerful 
clan  of  the  Mavromichales,  the  thews  and  sinews  of  the 
revolution.  He  himself,  though  a  Greek,  was  governor 
of  the  district  of  Maina,  and  had  been  appointed  to  this 
post  by  the  Sultan,  for  the  attempt  to  put  the  govern- 
ment of  Maina,  or  rather  of  the  Mavromichales,  into  the 
hands  of  a  Turkish  official,  had  not  proved  a  success,  the 
last  three  Turkish  governors  not  having  been  permitted 
by  the  clan  to  hold  office  for  more  than  a  month.  His 
brothers  and  cousins  were  mayors  and  land-owners  of  the 
villages  for  miles  around,  and,  like  Nicholas's  family,  with 
whom  they  were  connected  twenty  times  in  marriage,  it 
K  145 


THE    VINTAGE 

was  their  pride  that  they  had  kept  their  blood  clean  and 
not  mated  with  devils,  and  the  wrong  done  to  Nicholas's 
wife  they  took  for  a  wrong  done  to  themselves,  demand- 
ing, so  they  swore,  "a  red  and  hot  apology."  So  when, 
in  the  presence  of  the  five  soldiers  who  had  brought 
Mehemet's  letter,  Petrobey  sent  for  his  brother-in-law 
Demetri,  and  told  him  that  that  bastard  cousin  of  the 
clan,  Nicholas  Vidalis,  was  being  sought  for  by  the 
deputy  of  the  Shadow  of  God  who  cast  his  serene  efful- 
gence over  Tripoli,  Demetri  was  suitably  astounded, 
and  the  Turkish  soldiers  were  much  impressed.  They 
had  the  further  satisfaction  an  hour  later  of  seeing 
twenty  mounted  men  set  oif  southwards  in  search  of 
Nicholas,  following  well-authenticated  information  ;  and 
later  in  the  afternoon  they  themselves  took  horse  on 
their  return  journey  to  Tripoli,  having  drunk  a  little 
more  than  was  good  for  them  at  Petrobey's  expense,  the 
bearers  of  that  reply  the  sentiments  and  wording  of 
which  were  an  edification. 

Nicholas  and  he  supped  together,  and  it  was  arranged 
that  Nicholas  should  start  that  night  from  Panitza,  so  as 
to  reach  Gythium  before  morning. 

"I  regret,"  said  Petrobey,  "my  dear  cousin,  that  I 
cannot  speed  you  on  your  way  myself,  and  can  send  none 
of  our  clan  with  you  ;  but  perhaps  it  would  be  outstep- 
ping the  bounds  of  prudence  if  I  went  myself,  and,  as 
you  know,  the  Mavromichales  of  this  immediate  dis- 
trict have  gone  to  look  for  you  southwards.  They 
will  no  doubt  be  back  from  their  quest  before  mid- 
night ;  but  I  should  advise  your  setting  out  before 
then." 

Nicholas  laughed. 

"I  shall  do  very  well,  my  cousin,"  he  said.  '^I  shall 
reach  Nauplia  in  two  days  or  three,  and  send  Mitsos  back 

146 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

at  once.  He  is  absolutely  and  entirely  trustworthy.  I 
think  I  told  you  of  the  test." 

"You  did.  He  should  be  very  useful  to  us;  for  it 
is  time,  I  think,  that  the  mills  were  set  grinding,  and 
a  boy  like  that  can  go  freely  to  and  fro  without  suspi- 
cion. Your  health,  dear  cousin  ;  I  will  break  my  custom 
and  drink  wine  with  you.  I  drink  to  you  and  to  ven- 
geance." 

The  men  clinked  glasses,  emptied  them,  and  filled  them 
again. 

''1  do  not  easily  forget,"  said  Nicholas,  "and  the 
Turk  shall  not  easily  forget  me.  The  corn  will  grow 
high  this  summer,  for  the  fields  will  be  rich.  Your 
health,  dear  cousin,  and  the  memory  of  one  whom  we 
forget  not !" 

They  sat  in  silence  for  a  space,  for  Petrobey  knew  that 
Nicholas  spoke  of  his  wife,  and  having  finished  their  meal 
they  drank  their  coffee,  and  Nicholas's  horse  was  brought 
round.  The  two  men  walked  to  the  end  of  the  village 
together,  the  lad  leading  the  horse  behind,  and  there  they 
stopped  a  moment. 

"I  may  not  see  you  again,"  said  Nicholas,  "till  the 
feast  is  ready.  And  on  that  day,  my  cousin,  you  and  I 
will  fall  to  with  good  appetite.  I  wish  you  a  good  appe- 
tite for  that  feast."  And  after  the  manner  of  relations 
and  friends  they  kissed  each  other,  and  Nicholas  mounted 
and  rode  off. 

Eight  days  after  his  departure  Mitsos  arrived,  having 
passed  without  impediment  through  Tripoli  and  Sparta. 
Following  Nicholas's  directions,  he  had  kept  his  ears 
very  wide  open  at  Tripoli  in  his  lodging  at  a  Greek  inn, 
and  he  had  heard  things  which  he  thought  might  be  of 
interest.  First  and  foremost  the  letter  which  Petrobey 
had  written  to  the  deputy  of  the  Shadow  of  God  had 

147 


THE    VINTAGE 

been  received,  and  was  supposed  to  have  given  satisfac- 
tion, for  Mitsos  had  fallen  in  with  one  of  the  Turkish 
soldiers  who  had  taken  it,  who  reported  that  the  mat- 
ter was  to  be  left  entirely  in  Petrobey's  hands,  which 
seemed  a  mark  of  confidence  in  his  fidelity.  Also,  the 
meeting  of  primates  and  bishops  at  Tripoli,  which 
usually  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  April,  was  sum- 
moned for  the  beginning  of  March.  Lastly,  Mehemet 
Salik  was  fortifying  with  feverish  haste  the  walls  of  the 
city. 

Mitsos  had  spent  the  second  night  at  Sparta ;  the 
third  at  Marathonisi,  a  town  on  the  coast ;  and  the 
noon  of  the  fourth  day  saw  him  climbing  the  steep  hill 
into  Panitza.  His  horse  was  tired  with  the  four  days' 
journey,  and  a  couple  of  miles  below  the  village  he  got 
off  and  walked  behind  it,  cracking  his  whip  every  now 
and  then,  partly  to  encourage  it,  and  partly  because  he 
could  crack  a  whip  louder  than  mortal  man.  Petrobey, 
who  was  outside  the  big  cafe  at  the  entrance  to  the 
village,  saw  the  tired  horse  and  the  extremely  vigorous- 
looking  young  giant  walking  by  its  side  as  they  passed, 
and,  after  a  few  moments^  inspection,  said  to  a  young  man 
who  was  sitting  with  him  : 

"  That  is  he,  no  doubt.  Nicholas  seems  to  have  chosen 
well." 

The  two  got  up  and  followed  the  boy  till  he,  seeing 
them,  stopped  and  asked  for  Petros  Mavromichales's 
house. 

"And  what  do  you  want  with  Petrobey  ?"  asked  that 
gentleman. 

Mitsos  surve3^ed  him  with  easy  indifference,  raising  his 
eyebrows  slightly  at  the  question. 

*'See,  friend,''  he  said,  *'I  have  my  business,  and 
you,  for  all  I  know,  have  yours.     If  you  will  tell  me 

148 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEKING 

where  is  his  house,  good ;  if  not,  I  will  ask  some  one 
else/' 

Petrobey  laughed. 

"You  are  Mitsos,  no  doubt,"  he  said.  '^Welcome, 
cousin,  for  Nicholas's  sake  and  your  own.'' 

"  I  really  am  very  sorry,"  said  the  boy ;  "  but  how 
should  I  know  ?  I  have  come  from  Nauplia.  Uncle 
Nicholas  arrived  safely." 

*'  That  is  good,  and  you  have  arrived  safely,  which  is 
also  good.  This  is  my  son  Yanni,  Mitsos,  and  your 
cousin.  Yanni,  take  your  cousin's  horse  and  then  join 
us." 

Mitsos  hesitated  a  moment  before  giving  the  bridle  to 
Yanni. 

"Thank  you  very  much,"  he  said;  "but  I  can  put 
the  horse  up  myself  if  you  will  show  me  where.  My 
father  told  me  always  to  put  it  up  niyself .  They  laughed 
at  me  at  the  inn  at  Tripoli  for  doing  so." 

"Indeed,"  said  Petrobey,  glancing  at  the  boy's  shoul- 
ders ;  "  I  would  never  langh  at  you,  Mitsos.  What  did 
you  do  ?" 

"I  knocked  one  of  them  down,"  said  Mitsos,  genially, 
"and  thus  there  was  no  more  laughter." 

"The  horse  will  be  all  right  here,"  said  Petrobey, 
smiling.     "Give  Yanni  the  bridle,  lad." 

Mitsos  obeyed,  and  they  went  into  the  house,  where 
dinner  was  being  got  ready.  Dinner  was  a  daily  crisis  in 
the  house  of  Petrobey,  and,  leaving  the  two  boys  in  the 
veranda,  he  went  round  to  the  kitchen  for  fear  that  the 
cook,  who,  he  said,  was  a  man  to  whom  God  had  not 
granted  a  palate,  should  be  too  harsh  on  the  sucking-pig 
which  they  were  to  eat. 

"  Can  you  conceive,"  he  said,  on  his  return,  spreading 
out  his  hands  with  a  gesture  of  eloquent  despair,  "  the 

149 


THE    VINTAGE 

fool  stuffed  the  last  one  I  ate  with  garlic  !  Sucking-pig 
stuffed  with  garlic  !  A  man  without  a  palate,  little 
Mitsos  !" 

Yanni  burst  out  laughing  at  this,  and  Petrobey  turned 
to  him  with  good  humor  shining  in  his  great  rosy  face, 
which  he  tried  most  unsuccessfully  to  school  into  severity. 

"Yanni,  too,"  he  went  on,  '^that  lumpy  son  of  mine, 
does  not  know  quail  from  woodcock,  and  lights  his  pipe 
before  he  has  finished  his  wine.  Come,  boys,  dinner 
first ;  we  will  talk  afterwards.  Bring  the  mastic,  son 
of  a  locust,"  he  bawled  into  the  kitchen. 

During  dinner  Petrobey  hardly  spoke,  because  speech 
spoils  food.  He  ate  sparingly  and  slowly,  dwelling  on 
each  mouthful  as  on  a  mathematical  problem.  His  face 
grew  anxious  as  the  time  for  sucking-pig  approached, 
and  his  deep -gray  eyes  bore  an  expression  of  profound 
thought  as  he  laid  down  his  knife  and  fork,  after  put- 
ting the  first  piece  of  crackling  into  his  mouth.  Then 
his  face  cleared  again,  and  he  drank  a  little  water  brisk- 
ly, for,  except  rarely,  he  did  not  touch  wine. 

"  Hardly  crisp  enough,"  he  said,  curling  his  long  gray 
mustache  up  from  his  lips.  "  Hardly  crisp  enough,  but 
creditable.    What  say  you,  Mitsos  ?" 

The  latter  exhibited  a  phenomenal  appetite  after  his 
journey  from  Marathonisi,  and  Yanni  looked  on  in  ad- 
miration, which  eventually  expressed  itself  Homerically : 

''You  are  a  good  man,"  he  said,  ''because  you  eat 
well." 

After  dinner  they  sat  out  in  the  sun  under  the  shelter 
of  the  southern  veranda,  and  here  Mitsos  learned  what 
he  had  to  do. 

"  Your  uncle  Nicholas,"  said  Petrobey,  "has  told  me 
that  I  can  trust  you  completely;  and  I  have  many  things 
to  tell  you,  any  of  which,  if  you  chose  to  give  informa- 

150 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

tion  to  the  Turk,  would  see  me,  and  many  others  besides, 
strung  to  the  gallows/^ 

Yanni,  who  was  lying  on  a  straw  mat  near  Mitsos, 
refilled  his  pipe  and  grinned. 

"  Me  among  them,  Mitsos,"  he  said,  glancing  up  at 
his  big  cousin.     "  You  will  please  to  remember  that." 

But  Mitsos  did  not  answer,  and  only  looked  gravely 
at  Petrgbey. 

"  We  shall  no  longer  be  cursed  by  these  devils,"  con- 
tinued he,  "for  the  Turks  will  vanish  out  of  our  land 
like  snow  in  summer.  What  you  and  Yanni  have  to  do 
is  to  go  through  a  certain  district,  calling  at  certain  vil- 
lages, and  speaking  to  certain  men.  This  first  journey, 
on  which  you  will  set  out  to-morrow,  will  take  you  a 
fortnight  or  so — ah,  but  the  victuals  will  be  poor,  little 
ones,  but  perhaps  you  don't  mind  that — and  then  you 
will  come  back  here.  And  remember,  Mitsos,  that  you 
will  be  doing  what  none  of  us  could  do ;  for  two  boys, 
dressed  as  peasants  dress,  driving  a  couple  of  seedy  mules 
laden  with  oranges,  can  pass  where  Nicholas  and  I  could 
not.  On  this  first  journey  Yanni  will  go  with  you,  for 
he  knows  the  country,  but  after  that  there  will  probably 
be  other  work  for  him  to  do,  and  also  for  you — plenty. 
You  will  go  to  the  houses  of  these  men  and  ask  this  ques- 
tion, '  Are  you  grinding  corn  ?'  and  they  will  answer, 
'  Corn  for  the  hungry,  or  corn  for  the  Turk  ?''  And  you 
will  say,  ^  Black  corn  for  the  Turk.  If  you  have  not 
begun  grinding,  begin,  and  grind  quickly.'" 

Mitsos  was  listening  breathlessly. 

"  What  does  it  all  mean  ?"  he  asked. 

Petrobey  smiled,  and  unslinging  his  powder-flask  from 
his  belt,  shook  out  a  little  into  his  hand,  and  tossed  it 
into  the  air. 

"  Pouf !"  he  said ;  "  black  corn  for  the  Turk." 

151 


THE    VINTAGE 

Mitsos'  eyes  flashed. 

"  I  understand/^  he  said ;  "  black  corn,  and  good  for 
Turks." 

"  For  the  first  journey  that  will  be  all,"  went  on  Pe- 
trobey.  ''  Yanni  will  be  with  you,  and  it  will  be  simple 
enough.  After  that  you  may  have  to  go  here,  there, 
anywhere.  You  will  certainly  have  to  go  to  Nauplia, 
where  you  will  find  Nicholas ;  and  Yanni  will,  I  am 
afraid,  have  to  go  to  Tripoli  for  a  little  while." 

"  The  black  devil  take  Tripoli,"  muttered  Yanni. 

"  And  why  does  Yanni  go  to  Tripoli  ?"  asked  Mitsos. 

*^  Perhaps  he  will  not,  but  if  he  goes  it  will  be  as  a 
hostage  for  my  good  conduct.  But  there  is  no  need  to 
be  so  round-eyed,  Mitsos ;  we  are  not  going  to  have  him 
murdered.  I  shall  not  behave  badly  till  he  is  safe  again. 
Dear  me,  yes,  I  wish  I  could  go  instead.  Mehemet  Salik 
has  a  cook  of  a  thousand.  But — who  knows  ? — idle  words 
may  reach  the  Turks  at  Tripoli,  and  if  so  I  shall  send 
Yanni  as  a  hostage.  But  about  this  journey  you  must  be 
as  quick  and  quiet  as  you  can.  Never  answer  any  ques- 
tions about  Nicholas  or  me  or  yourselves — you  cannot  be 
too  careful.  Never  sleep  in  a  village  when  you  have  given 
a  message.  Sleep  mostly  by  day  out  in  the  woods  and 
travel  at  night,  though  you  must  be  careful  to  arrive  at 
the  village  where  you  give  these  messages  by  day  in  the 
manner  of  ordinary  peasants.  Finally,  be  ready  to  run, 
if  running  is  possible  ;  if  not,  to  fight.  Which  would 
you  prefer  ?" 

Mitsos  kicked  out  a  leg  tentatively. 

"  I  have  no  marked  choice,"  he  said  ;  ''perhaps  I  would 
rather  fight." 

"I  hope  no  need  will  come.  Try  to  avoid  any  sus- 
picion. I  don't  think  you  need  provoke  any.  But 
if  you  do,  remember  that  you  must  try  to  run  away 

152 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

first.  The  point  is  that  you  should  do  your  business 
quietly." 

Yanni  turned  round  and  looked  at  Mitsos. 

'^  You  would  prefer  fighting,  would  you  not,  cousin  ?" 
he  said.  '^  But  I  don't  see  how  there  will  be  either  fight- 
ing or  running  to  do,  father.  We  only  go  to  friends,  give 
our  message,  and  pass  on." 

Petrobey  got  up. 

''That  is  what  I  hope,"  he  said,  "but  you  cannot  tell. 
Some  of  those  whom  we  thought  our  friends  may  be 
treacherous.  And  now  I  have  to  see  Demetri,  and  you 
boys  can  stop  here,  or  you  can  take  Mitsos  to  see  some 
of  his  cousins,  Yanni.    We  will  talk  again  this  evening." 

Petrobey  whistled  to  the  great  sheep-dog,  wolfish  and 
savage,  who  got  up,  and  with  all  his  hackles  raised  made 
a  second  examination  of  Mitsos'  legs,  growling  gently  to 
himself.  The  boy  sat  quite  still  under  this  somewhat 
trying  inspection,  and  the  dog  after  a  few  moments  laid 
his  head  on  his  knee  and  looked  him  in  the  face.  Mitsos 
lifted  his  hand  very  gently  and  stroked  the  brute's  ears, 
while  Petrobey  watched  them. 

''  There,  go  along,"  said  Mitsos,  after  a  few  moments, 
and  the  stately  dog  turned  and  walked  across  to  Pe- 
trobey. 

''  That  is  curious,"  said  the  latter.  "  Osman  is  not 
usually  friendly.  I  suppose  he  saw  you  were  not  afraid  of 
him." 

Mitsos  looked  up  smiling. 

*'I  was  horribly  afraid,"  he  said,  ''but  I  tried  not  to 
show  it.     Big  dogs  are  fools  ;  they  never  understand." 

"  You  will  find  that  men  are  even  greater  fools  ;  they 
always  mistake  bluff  for  bravery,"  said  Petrobey,  walking 
off. 

Yanni  got  up  from  where  he  was  lying  and  sat  himself 
153 


THE    VINTAGE 

in  his  father's  chair.  He  was  a  big-made  young  Greek, 
rather  above  the  average  height,  with  a  look  of  extreme 
fitness  about  him.  His  movements  were  all  sharp  and 
nimble,  like  the  movements  of  some  young  animal,  and 
he  rolled  himself  a  compact  and  uniform  plug  of  tobacco 
for  his  chibouk  with  a  few  passes  of  his  quick  fingers. 
His  hands,  like  his  father's,  were  long  and  finely  made, 
and  Mitsos  watched  him  admiringly  nip  off  the  loose 
ends  of  the  tobacco. 

"How  quickly  you  did  that,"  he  said.  "Will  you 
fill  my  pipe,  too  ?  I  am  so  glad  we  are  going  together, 
cousin." 

"  I,  too.  It  is  good  to  hunt  in  couples.  It  is  a  halv- 
ing of  the  cold  and  the  tiredness,  and  a  doubling  of 
all  that  is  pleasant.  This  is  Turkish  tobacco,  Mitsos, 
and  it  is  better  than  ours.  Father  never  smokes.  So 
when  a  Turk  sends  him  a  present  of  tobacco  it  is  good 
for  me.     Have  you  ever  smoked  the  Turkish  ?" 

Mitsos  started,  and  a  flush  spread  under  the  brown  of 
his  cheek. 

"Yes,  the  other  day  only.  I  found  it  very  good.  Tell 
me  more  of  the  journey." 

"Old  clothes,  even  very  old  clothes,"  said  Yanni, 
"  like  poor  peasants,"  and  his  Mavromichales's  nose  went 
in  the  air.  "  Old  mules,  and  very  slow-going  ;  but  a 
pistol  each,  new  pistols  with  two  mouths  that  speak  like 
the  lightning.  Father  gives  us  one  each.  On  the  mules 
a  load  of  stupid  oranges  and  a  couple  of  blankets  each. 
Come  to  the  other  side  of  the  house,  cousin ;  we  can  see 
our  first  day's  journey  from  there." 

Panitza  stood  high  on  the  scrub-covered  slope  leading 
up  to  the  pine  forests  and  the  naked  crags  of  Taygetus. 
Sixteen  miles  to  the  north  rose  the  spearhead  of  the 
range,  Mount  Elias,  sheathed  in  snow  for  a  couple  of 

154 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

thousand  feet  down,  and  cut  against  the  intense  blue  of 
the  sky  with  the  keenness  and  edge  of  steel.  From 
Panitza  their  path  lay  for  five  or  six  miles  along  the  up- 
ward slope,  and  where  it  struck  the  ridge  they  could 
see  the  huddled  roofs  of  a  village,  which  Yanni  said  was 
Kalyvia,  where  they  delivered  their  first  message.  From 
there  the  track  crossed  a  pass  and  went  down  the  other 
side  towards  the  sea.  It  was  rough,  cold  going  on  the 
heights,  and  it  would  be  a  full  day's  journey  to  get  down 
to  Platsa,  where  they  would  sleep.  After  that  they 
would  travel  chiefly  by  night,  and  sleep  when  and  where 
they  could,  avoiding  as  far  as  possible  all  villages  but 
those  where  they  were  charged  with  messages.  *'  Oh,  it 
will  be  very  good,"  said  Yanni.  Mitsos'  thoughts  went 
aching  back  to  the  bay  of  Nauplia  ;  but  he  agreed.  Be- 
sides, he  would  go  to  Nauplia  again  soon. 

It  had  been  an  immense  relief  to  him  that  he  was  not 
going  alone,  though  in  that  moment  when  Nicholas  had 
told  him  that  the  time  was  come  he  had  made  his  self- 
surrender  absolute,  and  would  have  taken  upon  him  any 
outrageous  task  which  might  have  been  imposed.  But 
the  four  days  of  travelling  alone  from  Nauplia  had  been 
like  a  sick  man's  dream.  He  had  set  off  at  daybreak, 
and  taking  the  same  path  by  which  Nicholas  had  come 
the  evening  before,  he  reached  in  an  hour  the  little  bay 
where  he  had  fished,  and  sat  down  under  the  clump  of 
rushes  where  they  had  sat  together,  looking  at  the  well- 
known  places  with  the  eyes  of  a  dog  that  comes  back  to 
a  deserted  house  which  has  once  been  home.  In  the 
sand  he  could  see  the  footprints  made  by  his  own  bare 
feet  as  he  came  up  from  the  water,  and  close  beside  them 
the  print  of  Suleima's  little  pointed  shoes.  They  had 
overlooked  two  or  three  small  fish,  which  were  lying  still 
fresh  and  clean  after  the  cool  night,  where  they  had 

155 


THE    VINTAGE 

emptied  the  creel  to  count  their  spoils,  and  by  them  was 
the  dottle  of  the  pipe  he  had  smoked.  And  at  the  sight 
of  these  little  things  the  child  within  him  cried  out 
against  his  fate.  Nothing  in  the  world  seemed  of  ap- 
preciable account  except  the  need  of  Suleima.  Yet  it 
was  no  less  impossible  to  go  back  :  even  as  he  said  to 
himself  that  he  would  return,  he  knew  that  Nicholas's 
gray,  questioning  eyes  were  unfaceable.  He  was  hedged 
in  by  impossibilities  on  every  side.  And  then  because 
there  was  something  more  than  the  child  within  him, 
some  stuff  out  of  which  real  men  are  made,  he  got  up, 
and  mounting  again  went  on  his  way.  All  that  day  and 
the  next  days  his  heart-sickness  rode  him  like  a  night-hag, 
and  it  was  but  a  heavy-souledlad  who  trudged  so  bravely 
into  Panitza  cracking  his  whip.  But  to  be  among  people 
again,  and  men  who  received  him  cousin-fashion — for  in 
those  days  the  tie  of  blood  was  a  warm  reality — had  an 
extraordinary  sweetness  for  him,  for  he  felt  lonely  and 
sick  for  home  ;  above  all,  to  find  that  for  the  present  he 
would  be  with  Yanni,  a  boy  of  his  own  age,  who  took 
for  granted  that  they  were  going  to  have  the  best  of 
hours  together,  and  only  knew  one  side  of  things,  and 
that  the  cheerful  side,  was  surpassingly  pleasant.  Again, 
because  he  was  beginning  to  be  a  man,  the  confidence 
placed  in  him  made  him  feel  self-reliant,  and  because  he 
was  still  a  boy  the  unknown  adventurous  days  in  front  of 
him  were  very  tonic  to  the  spirit.  And  so  it  was,  that 
when  they  set  out  early  next  morning,  Petrobey,  looking 
after  them,  said  to  Demetri  that  Nicholas  was  a  very 
wise  man  ;  and  Mitsos  whacked  his  mule  gayly  over  the 
rump,  and  whistled  the  '^Song  of  the  Vine-diggers"  with 
more  than  cheerfulness  of  lip,  and  took  the  road  with 
an  open  heart. 


156 


CHAPTER  II 
MITSOS   AND   YANKI   FIND   A   HORSE 

It  was  a  morning  to  make  the  blood  go  blithely.  There 
had  been  a  slight  frost  during  the  night,  and  the  rough 
grass  in  the  ditches  was  stiff  and  sprinkled  with  the 
powdered  cold,  and  the  air  was  brisk  in  the  nostrils. 
To  the  right  the  ground  fell  away  sheerly  to  the  outly- 
ing hills  bordering  the  plain,  which  lay  unrolled  beneath 
them  like  a  colored  map,  with  extraordinary  clearness, 
in  counties  of  yellow-green,  where  the  corn  was  already 
springing,  alternating  with  territories  of  good  red  earth, 
showing  where  the  leafless  vineyards  stood.  Beyond 
again  lay  the  dim,  dark  blue  of  the  sea,  and  across  that, 
more  guessed  at  than  seen,  the  stencilled  shapes  of  the 
hills  beyond  the  gulf.  Their  path,  a  cobbled  Turkish 
road,  ascended  steadily,  skirting  about  the  edges  of  the 
deep  ravines,  and  making  detours  round  the  acuter  slopes 
which  rose  above  them  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  ridge  ; 
and  the  mules  ambled  slowly  along  with  their  panniers 
of  oranges  on  either  side,  while  Mitsos  and  Yanni  walked 
behind,  dressed  in  their  roughest  peasant  clothes,  talking 
of  the  thousand  things  of  which  boys  talk.  It  took  them 
nearly  three  hours  to  reach  the  foot  of  the  last  slope  on 
which  the  village  stood,  and  here  they  halted  for  half  an 
hour  to  eat  and  drink,  in  order  that  they  might  pass 
straight  through  without  waiting  after  giving  the  mes- 
sage. 

157 


THE    VINTAGE 

Yanni,  who  knew  the  village,  soon  recognized  the 
house  to  which  they  were  going,  which  stood  somewhat 
apart  from  the  others,  and  had  a  low  outlying  building 
a  stoneVthrow  below  it. 

'^  That  is  the  house,"  he  said,  "  and  that  shed  near  is 
the  mill.  There  is  a  big  stream  coming  down  from  the 
mountains  there  which  turns  the  wheel." 

"They  should  grind  quickly,  then.  Shall  we  go 
on?" 

The  house  in  question  they  found  was  entered  from  a 
yard,  the  door  of  which  was  closed,  and  their  knocking 
only  seemed  to  rouse  a  dog  inside  to  the  top  pitch  of 
fury.  But  at  last  a  woman  came  out  on  the  wooden 
balcony  overlooking  the  street,  and  asked  them  what 
they  wanted. 

"We  want  Yorgi  Gregoriou,"  shouted  Yanni.  "Ah, 
do  you  not  remember  me  ?" 

The  woman  took  up  a  piece  of  wood  and  threw  it,  as 
a  man  throws  with  force  and  precision,  at  the  dog  inside. 
The  barking  broke  off  short  in  a  staccato  howl,  and 
Mitsos  guessed  that  she  had  hit. 

"Yanni  Mavromichales,  is  it  not  ?"  asked  the  woman. 

"Surely." 

She  disappeared  into  the  house,  and  in  a  moment  her 
step  was  heard  across  the  yard.  As  soon  as  the  door 
was  opened  the  dog  flew  out  like  a  cork  from  a  bottle, 
only  to  find  himself  between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea — 
his  mistress,  an  authentic  terror,  standing  on  one  side, 
and  Mitsos'  whip  flirting  out  at  him  like  the  tongue  of  a 
snake  on  the  other.  So  he  scufi9.ed  away  to  a  safe  dis- 
tance and  barked  himself  out  of  all  shape. 

"  Come  in,  Yanni,"  said  Gregoriou's  wife.  "  What 
brings  you  here  ?" 

"A  message  from  Petrobey  to  Gregoriou." 
158 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

The  woman's  eye  travelled  slowly  up  to  Mitsos'  face, 
as  if  she  could  only  take  him  in  by  sections. 

"  And  the  giant  ?"  she  asked.     ''Is  he  from  a  fair  ?*' 

Yanni  shouted  with  laughter. 

"  No  ;  it  is  my  cousin.  But  we  are  in  a  hurry,  as  we 
go  far  to-day.     Where  shall  we  find  Gregoriou  ?'' 

*'  He  is  at  the  mill.  You  will  find  him  there,  and  then 
come  back  and  drink  a  glass  of  wine." 

The  stream  that  worked  the  mill  was  confined  within 
a  masonry-laid  bed  for  a  hundred  yards  above  the  house, 
to  narrow  its  course  and  concentrate  its  energy.  From 
the  end  of  the  yard  ran  out  a  tall,  stout-built  wall ;  along 
the  top  of  this  the  water  was  conducted  to  a  wooden 
shoot,  below  which  was  the  mill-wheel.  The  mill  seemed 
to  be  in  full  working  order,  for  an  ear -filling  booming 
came  from  within,  shaking  the  rickety  door  on  its  hinges. 
The  two  tried  the  latch,  but  found  it  locked,  and  it  was 
not  till  Yanni  had  shouted  his  name  that  it  was  cau- 
tiously opened. 

"  Yanni  Mavromichales  ?"  queried  a  voice  from  inside. 

''No  other." 

"  What  do  you  want  ?" 

"  This  only.     Are  you  grinding  corn  ?" 

There  was  a  pause,  but  the  door  was  still  held  ajar 
only. 

"  Corn  for  the  hungry,  or  corn  for  the  Turk  ?"  asked 
the  voice. 

"Black  corn  for  the  Turk." 

The  door  was  opened  and  a  little  wizened  man  appear- 
ed on  the  threshold.  He  had  a  white  beard,  cut  close 
and  pointed,  and  a  pair  of  heavy  eyebrows.  His  face 
was  a  map  of  minute  wrinkles,  as  the  sea  is  covered  with 
ripples  under  the  land-breeze,  and  two  suspicious  eyes 
peered  narrowly  out  from  under  their  overhanging  brows. 

159 


THE    VINTAGE 

Mitsos  was  standing  close  to  the  door,  and  this  grotesque 
little  apparition,  as  he  opened  it,  gave  a  shrill  squeal  of 
dismay,  and  would  have  shut  it  again  had  not  Yanni 
prevented  him. 

"  Who  is  that  ?"  asked  the  little  man,  pointing  to  Mit- 
sos. 

"My  cousin,^'  said  Yanni,  "who  comes  with  me  on 
the  business  of  the  corn.  Oh,  all  our  necks  are  in  one 
noose.     Do  not  be  afraid." 

Tlie  little  old  man  seemed  strangely  reassured  at  this 
brutality  of  frankness,  and  setting  the  door  wide  — 
"Come  in,  both  of  you,"  he  said,  shortly. 

Inside  the  noise  of  the  mill  was  almost  deafening, 
but  Grregoriou  pinned  the  wheel,  the  two  stones  stopped 
grinding,  and  only  the  water  splashed  hissing  down  the 
channel. 

"  Black  corn,  did  you  say  ;  black  corn  for  the  Turk  ?" 
said  the  little  old  man,  peering  into  Yanni's  face,  with 
blinking  eyes,  like  a  noonday  owl.  "I  grind  corn  all 
day,  for  there  will  be  many  hungry  mouths.  Look  you, 
I  am  no  fighting  man ;  I  leave  that  to  those  who  are  tall- 
er than  the  pillars  in  the  church,  like  this  cousin  of 
yours  ;  but  where  would  the  fighting  be  without  such  as 
I  ?  But,  lad,  don't  give  hint  of  this  to  the  woman-folk, 
else  I  shall  have  the  clan  of  them  a-screaming  round  me 
like  the  east  gale  in  the  mountains." 

He  rubbed  his  hands  together  and  broke  out  into  a 
screeching  cackle  of  a  laugh,  which  showed  a  row  of  dis- 
colored, irregular  teeth. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  opening  a  bin  behind  the  door, 
"  is  not  this  good,  strong  corn  ?  I  have  ground  it  all  my- 
self.    None  but  I  have  ground  it." 

His  face  took  an  expression  of  diabolical  cunning. 

"  They  have  promised  to  buy  it  of  me,  all  at  a  sound 
160 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

price/'  he  said  ;  '*  but  it  is  not  that  so  much  that  makes 
my  heart  go  singing — it  is  that  I  want  it  to  do  its  work 
well,  and  give  the  Turk  an  indigestion  of  lead.  This  is 
good  business  for  me.  I  will  be  a  rich  man,  and  I  shall 
have  brought  death  to  many  devils." 

He  slipped  back  to  the  lever  that  brought  the  wheel 
under  the  stream,  and  as  the  stones  began  to  turn  again, 
from  their  lips  there  dribbled  out  a  black  powder,  which 
he  scooped  up  in  a  wooden  ladle  and  emptied  into  a  cask. 
Then,  seeing  that  the  door  was  still  open,  he  gave  another 
shrill  animal  cry  of  fright  and  sprang  to  lock  it.  **  Char- 
coal !"  he  shouted  to  them  across  the  rumbling  din  of  the 
stone,  "  charcoal  ground  fine,  for  so  it  is  the  more  nour- 
ishing. And  here  are  the  sulphur  and  saltpetre.  To- 
night I  shall  mix  them  carefully — oh,  so  carefully — and 
I  shall  be  glutted  with  the  thought  that  there  will  be  a 
red  death  for  every  stroke  in  the  mixing." 

And  then  he  got  him  back  to  the  stones  and  fed  them 
tenderly  with  fresh  lumps  of  charcoal,  as  one  would  feed 
a  sick  dog. 

Mitsos  and  Yanni  were  in  a  hurry  to  take  the  road 
again,  and  so  they  left  him  absorbed  in  the  grinding, 
and  heard  the  key  grate  in  the  lock  as  soon  as  they  got 
outside. 

From  Kalyvia  their  road  topped  the  watershed  of  the 
mountain,  and  thereafter  descended  in  leaps  and  strides, 
almost  due  west,  down  to  the  plain  which  skirts  the  bay 
of  Kalamata.  They  got  to  Platsa,  where  they  were  to 
sleep  that  night,  an  hour  before  dark,  and  for  the  sake 
of  appearances  drove  their  mules  to  the  market-place, 
and  made  a  display  of  selling  their  cargo  of  oranges. 
The  khan  where  they  put  up  consisted  of  two  rooms, 
one  occupied  by  the  owner  and  his  family,  the  other  be- 
ing the  cafe  of  the  village.  They  sat  up  smoking  and 
L  161 


THE    VINTAGE 

talking  till  it  emptied,  and  then  made  themselves  beds 
of  their  blankets  and  saddle-bags.  The  village  was  in- 
clined to  inquisitiveness,  but  Mitsos  told  them  that  they 
had  come  from  Sparta  with  oranges  and  were  going 
home  to  Tsimova — a  possible,  and  even  a  plausible,  ex- 
planation of  their  presence ;  and  with  that  the  village 
must  be  content. 

They  descended  next  day  onto  the  coast  and  into  the 
warm  fresh  air  of  the  Greek  lowlands  in  winter,  and  Mit- 
sos called  the  hierarchy  of  Heaven  to  witness  that  only 
the  shrewdest  pinch  of  cold  would  drive  him  again  into 
foul  khans  while  there  were  trees  to  sleep  under  and 
good  grass  beds  for  the  limbs.  If  rooms  untenanted  by 
the  grosser  vermin  were  supposed  to  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  orange -sellers,  he  would  have  no  room  at  all, 
but  only  God's  out-door  inn. 

Mid-day  brought  them  to  Prastion,  and  to  the  delivery 
of  the  second  message.  They  had  no  trouble  in  finding 
the  recipient,  for  he  was  the  mayor  of  the  village,  and 
was  known  to  be  in  his  vineyard  hoeing  vines.  Yanni 
waited  with  the  mules  in  the  street,  while  Mitsos  went 
to  seek  him.  He  looked  up  as  the  lad  came  striding 
towards  him  across  the  hollowed  vine-beds. 

*^  You  are  Zaravenos  ?"  asked  he. 

Zaravenos  assented  slowly  and  suspiciously,  as  if  he 
would  sooner  have  been  some  one  else. 

*'  Are  you  grinding  corn  ?" 

The  man  put  down  his  mattock  and  looked  round  sud- 
denly to  see  that  there  was  no  one  within  hearing. 

"Yes,  yes,"  he  said,  quickly.  "But  of  what  corn  do 
you  speak — corn  for  the  hungry,  or  corn  for  the  Turk  ?" 

"Black  corn  for  the  Turk.'' 

"  Praise  the  Virgin.  But  is  the  time  come  ?  Tell  me 
who  sent  you  ;  was  it  Nicholas,  whom  I  know  well  ?" 

162 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

Mitsos  thought  of  Petrobey's  injunctions. 

*'  Nicholas  ?  Who  is  Nicholas  ?"  he  said.  "  But  this 
I  have  to  tell  you  :  if  you  have  not  begun,  begin,  and 
grind  quickly.     That  is  all.'' 

The  man  looked  at  him  again. 

** Surely  you  are  Mitsos/'  he  said.  ''Nicholas  told 
me  about  a  mountain  of  a  Mitsos,  whom  perhaps  he 
would  send  to  us.  Why  do  you  not  tell  me  ?  I  have  no 
better  friend  than  Nicholas.  He  was  here  a  month  ago. 
Where  is  he  now  ?    Is  he  safe  ?" 

But  Mitsos  shook  his  head. 

"  I  do  not  know  whom  you  mean,"  he  said,  though  his 
heartstrings  thrummed  within  him. 

For  six  days  the  two  went  on  travelling  in  a  northerly 
direction,  sometimes  keeping  close  to  the  coast,  some- 
times visiting  strange,  gaunt  little  villages  perched  high 
on  the  flanks  of  Taygetus.  They  travelled  for  the  most 
part  at  night,  trying  if  possible  to  come  by  daybreak  with- 
in a  mile  or  two  of  the  village  whither  they  were  bound. 
They  would  then  turn  off  into  some  wood,  or,  if  they 
were  close  to  the  coast,  down  onto  the  beach,  and,  after 
tethering  and  feeding  their  mules,  would  breakfast  and 
sleep  till  about  mid-day,  when  they  entered  the  village, 
delivered  their  message,  and  passed  on.  Sometimes  it 
would  be  received  eagerly  and  with  shining  eyes,  and  the 
news  would  spread  at  once  that  the  time  for  which  they 
were  waiting  had  come.  Sometimes,  if  there  were  Turks 
about,  it  would  be  taken  and  answered  with  guardedness 
and  caution,  and  once  the  man  to  whom  they  had  been 
sent  shook  his  head  and  said  he  knew  nousrht  of  the 
matter.  This  was  beyond  doubt  an  occasion  when  run- 
ning away  was  necessary,  and  little  time  was  lost  in  run- 
ning. 

They  reached  Kalamata  on  the  seventh  day — little  did 
163 


THE    VINTAGE 

Mitsos  think  how  or  when  he  would  see  it  again — and 
after  spending  two  nights  there  (for  they  had  been  in- 
structed not  only  to  give  messages  to  three  leading 
Greeks,  but  also  to  inquire  of  the  strength  of  the  Turk- 
ish garrison,  and  see  to  the  truth  of  the  report  which 
had  reached  Petrobey  that  the  fortifications  there,  as 
well  as  at  Tripoli,  were  being  repaired),  took  a  boat 
down  the  coast  to  the  port  of  Tsimova,  whence  their 
road  lay  southward  through  Maina,  and  then  eastward 
back  to  Panitza,  and  it  was  in  this  district  that  red- 
handed  adventure  met  them. 

They  had  now  been  twelve  days  from  home,  and  Yanni 
remarked  discontentedly  that  there  were  only  four  more 
to  come.  He  had  never  spent  more  enchanting  days 
than  these  in  the  company  of  Mitsos,  with  whom  in  a 
healthy,  boyish  manner  he  had  fallen  completely  in  love. 
Mitsos  never  lost  his  temper,  and  maintained  an  immense, 
great  serenity  under  the  most  disquieting  conditions  ;  as, 
for  instance,  when  they  lost  one  of  the  mules  during  their 
morning^s  sleep  the  day  before,  when  they  were  up  on 
the  spurs  of  Taygetus,  and  had  to  hunt  it  high  and  low  in 
a  blinding  snow  blizzard,  and  came  back  to  find  that  the 
other  mule  had  made  use  of  his  solitude  in  rolling  him- 
self in  some  thorn  bushes  while  they  were  away,  convert- 
ing their  blankets  into  one  prickly  fricassee.  The  splen- 
did cousin  had  gazed  at  them  ruefully  a  moment,  and 
"  I  would  I  were  a  tortoise  "  was  his  only  comment. 

Mitsos  had  fully  responded  to  the  frankness  of  his 
cousin^s  adoration,  and  had  confided  to  him  his  inter- 
rupted love  -  story,  which  raised  him  in  Yanni's  eyes  to 
hero  rank.  Besides,  he  was  big  and  strong  and  en- 
tirely magnificent. 

Mitsos  had.  just  awakened  Yanni  on  this  particular 
morning,  reminding  him  that  it  was  after  mid-day  and 

164 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEKING 

they  had  a  long  tramp  ahead  of  them  that  afternoon. 
Xymphia,  the  next  village  to  which  they  had  a  message, 
lay  below  them  on  the  plain,  a  mile  or  two  distant.  But 
Yanni  refused  to  go  before  he  had  eaten  somewhat,  and 
as  remonstrance  was  vain,  they  fished  out  bread  and  meat 
from  the  saddle-bags  and  made  a  meal.  They  were  sit- 
ting thus  some  thirty  yards  from  the  path,  which  lay 
through  the  heart  of  an  upland  pine  forest,  when  they 
heard  the  going  of  four-footed  steps,  and  Yanni  got  up 
to  see  if  either  of  their  mules  had  slipped  its  tether  and 
was  preparing  to  give  them  another  hunt.  But  it  proved 
only  to  be  a  Turkish  soldier  riding  down  in  the  direction 
of  the  village  to  which  they  were  bound.  He  asked  the 
bush-bowered  Yanni  what  was  his  business  there,  and 
Yanni,  who  had  a  wholesome  dislike  of  all  Turks,  very 
rudely  replied,  "Breakfasting,  pig,"  went  back  to  Mitsos, 
and  thought  no  more  of  the  matter. 

The  soldier  rode  quickly  on  through  the  village  and 
turned  into  a  house  that  lay  some  half-mile  below.  He 
found  no  one  there,  and  tying  his  horse  up  went  down 
across  a  couple  of  fields  to  a  low,  huddled  building,  be- 
side which  stood  a  mill-wall.  He  knocked  at  the  door 
and  was  admitted  at  once. 

*'^Krinos,"he  said  to  the  man  who  opened  it,  "I  passed 
a  boy  on  the  road  through  the  wood,  whom  I  am  sure  I 
saw  yesterday  at  Kyta,  and  two  days  ago  at  Akia,  only 
before  there  were  two  of  them.  It  is  worth  while  wait- 
ing to  see  if  he  comes  with  a  message  to  you." 

''But  if  there  are  two  of  them,"  said  Krinos  (for  God 
had  made  a  coward),  "  there  are  only  two  of  us." 

"  Nonsense  ;  admit  one  only  ;  and  this  is  a  boy,  and  we 
are  men.  Besides,  there  is  no  time  to  send  to  the  village, 
and  whom  should  we  find  there  ?  They  are  all  Greek  of 
the  Greeks.     And  the  boy  may  be  here  in  a  few  minutes. 

165 


THE    VINTAGE 

Eemember,  he  is  not  to  be  killed  yet.  He  has  to  speak 
first/^ 

"  If  it  is  a  Mavromichales  he  will  never  speak/^  said 
Krinos. 

*'  That  is  yet  to  be  seen.  I  will  stand  behind  the  door, 
seize  him  as  he  enters,  and  if  there  are  two  of  them,  lock 
the  door  behind  the  first.'" 

Now  from  Pigadia,  where  the  boys  had  delivered  the 
message  to  a  man  who  said  he  knew  nought  of  the  matter, 
they  had  been  quite  right  to  go  on  their  way  as  quickly  as 
they  could.  The  Turks  had  set  spies  all  over  the  country, 
since  the  rumors  of  an  approaching  outbreak  had  reached 
them,  who  were  instructed  to  affect  sympathy  and  co- 
operation with  the  revolutionists,  and  give  information 
at  headquarters  of  all  they  could  learn.  The  day  after 
Mitsos  and  Yanni  had  left  Pigadia,  still  going  northward 
towards  Kalamata,  this  spy  had  had  occasion  to  mak6 
a  journey  southward.  At  Tsimova  he  had  inquired 
whether  the  boys  had  been  seen,  and  hearing  they  had 
not,  for  they  were  then  at  Kalamata,  gave  information  to 
the  Turkish  magistrate,  and  went  on  his  way.  At  Nym- 
phia  ho  visited  Krinos,  who  was  also  in  Turkish  pay,  and 
told  him  to  extract  any  information  he  could  if  they  came 
his  way.  Prom  there  he  had  taken  ship  and  gone  on  to 
Gythium,  which  was  out  of  the  boys'  route. 

The  magistrate  at  Tsimova,  with  characteristic  Turk- 
ish indolence,  holding  a  clew  in  one  hand,  would  scarcely 
trouble  to  move  the  other  in  pursuit.  He  just  let  the 
soldiers  of  the  place  know  that  there  would  be  some 
small  reward  given  to  any  of  them  who  apprehended 
either  of  the  boys ;  and  one  of  them,  the  same  who  had 
seen  Yanni  on  the  wooded  path,  being  anxious  that  no 
other  should  bite  at  his  cherry,  had  obtained  leave  of 
absence  and  went  a-hunting  alone.     He  had  seen  Yanni 

166 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

on  the  previous  days  at  Kyta  and  Akia,  and  thought  it 
worth  while  to  follow  him  on  to  Nymphia,  where,  as  he 
knew,  there  was  a  Greek  whom  his  countrymen  supposed 
to  be  a  revolutionist,  but  who  was  really  in  Turkish  pay. 

So  the  soldier  hid  behind  the  door,  and  Krinos  went 
on  grinding  powder,  which  he  intended  to  sell  eventually 
—not  to  the  Greeks,  but  to  the  Turks.  The  trap  was 
neatly  laid,  and  smelled  of  success. 

Krinos's  mill  was  of  an  old-fashioned  type,  consisting 
not  of  two  stones,  but  of  one,  which  was  hung  with  its 
axle  horizontal  to  the  floor,  in  size  and  shape  resembling 
a  stone-roller,  and  underneath  it  ran  the  long  tray  in 
which  the  corn  or  charcoal  was  ground.  The  tray  could 
be  withdrawn  for  the  emptying  and  filling,  and  he  had 
just  slid  it  out,  as  the  charcoal  was  already  sufficiently 
powdered,  when  the  interruption  for  which  he  and  the 
soldier  had  been  waiting  came.  Krinos  had  not  time  to 
put  it  back,  and  the  stone  remained  revolving  about 
eight  inches  from  the  ground. 

Yanni  and  Mitsos  had  gone  cheerily  down  the  hill- 
side ten  minutes  after  the  Turk  into  the  village,  where 
Yanni  met  a  slightly  intoxicated  cousin,  who  grinned,  and 
queried  "  Black  corn  ?" 

Yanni  looked  so  important  and  mysterious  at  this  that 
Mitsos  burst  out  laughing,  and  they  all  three  stood  in 
the  road  and  laughed  together  for  no  reason,  except  that 
one  was  drunk  and  two  were  of  a  merry  mind.  Yanni 
went  so  far  as  to  explain  that  they  were  in  a  hurry,  but 
no  more  ;  and,  having  inquired  where  Krinos  lived,  they 
passed  through  the  village  and  out  towards  the  house. 

Just  below  Krinos's  house  the  ground  sloped  sharply 
away,  so  that  from  the  door  only  the  roof  of  his  mill 
could  be  seen.  This  prevented  Krinos,  who  was  peering 
out  of  the  mill-door  to  learn  whether  there  were  two  of 

167 


THE    VINTAGE 

them,  from  seeing  either  till  they  should  pass  the  house 
and  begin  to  descend  towards  the  mill.  Mitsos  tapped  at 
the  house  door,  then  knocked,  and  then  shouted ;  but 
there  was  no  answer.  Yanni  followed,  and  in  the  court- 
yard saw  a  horse  tied  up.  Mitsos  had  given  up  the  at- 
tempt to  make  any  one  hear,  and  he  said  to  Yanni : 

*'  He^s  not  in.     What  are  we  to  do  ?" 

Yanni  scratched  his  head  thoughtfully. 

''There's  another  building  farther  down  which  looks 
like  a  mill,"  he  said  ;  ''  we  will  go  there.  But  wait  a 
minute,  cousin  ;  there  is  a  thought  in  my  head." 

"  Out  with  it,  then." 

'*  Have  you  in  your  mind  how  that  when  we  were  break- 
fasting we  heard  a  horse  on  the  path,  and  I  went  to  see 
if  it  was  either  of  our  mules  ?  You  remember  it  turned 
out  to  be  a  Turkish  soldier  ;  and  this  is  the  horse,  or  my 
mother  did  not  bear  me." 

Mitsos'  eye  brightened. 

*'Let  us  think  a  moment,"  he  said.  ''What  do  you 
make  of  it  ?" 

Yanni  put  his  head  on  one  side,  like  an  intelligent  but 
puzzled  collie  dog. 

"  It  is  a  nice  horse,"  he  said,  vaguely,  "  and  that  is 
why  I  noticed  it.  It  would  be  rather  amusing  if — hush, 
I  can  hear  the  mill  going  !  Krinos  must  be  there,  and — 
and  I  shouldn't  at  all  wonder  if  the  Turk  was  there 
also  !" 

Mitsos  smiled  serenely. 

"  It  is  a  little  trap,"  he  said  ;  "  very  pretty.  What 
shall  we  do  ?    What  a  devil  Krinos  must  be." 

"  It  isn't  certain,"  said  Yanni ;  "but  we'll  make  sure. 
This  is  the  way.  The  Turk  saw  only  me,  therefore  I 
will  go  down  there  alone.  I  wonder  if  there  are  any 
windows  this  side.    AVait  a  minute  while  I  see." 

168 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

He  stole  out  to  the  edge  of  the  hill,  and  reconnoitred 
from  behind  a  bush. 

Krinos  was  standing  at  the  door,  and  even  as  Yanni 
looked,  a  head  wearing  a  red  soldier's  fez  popped  out  and 
back  again,  and  he  crept  back  with  suppressed  excite- 
ment in  his  eyes. 

**  They  are  both  there/'  he  said ;  *'  two  of  them  and 
two  of  us.  Oh,  Mitsos,  this  is  very  good  !  You  see,  we 
must  go  to  deliver  our  message,  otherwise  we  should  be 
doing  better  to  run  away  now  ;  but  there  is  the  message 
to  deliver,  and  that  is  the  first  order.  This  is  what  I 
will  do  :  Tie  up  your  mule  here,  and  get  behind  that 
bush.  Then  I  will  walk  down  to  the  mill  with  my  mule, 
and  I  expect  when  Krinos  sees  me  he  will  go  back  into 
the  mill  and  wait ;  if  he  does,  run  down  ever  so  quickly 
and  quietly — there  are  no  windows  this  side — and  hide 
behind  the  corner  of  the  house.  Then  will  I  come  and 
knock  at  the  door,  and  I  expect  that  when  I  give  the 
message  Krinos  will  let  me  in,  and  if  you  hear  me  shout, 
in  with  you.     There  will  be  no  running  away.'' 

''  It  won't  go,"  said  Mitsos ;  '^  there  will  be  two  of 
them.     They  may  kill  you  before  I  can  get  in." 

''  0  best  and  biggest  of  fools  !"  whispered  Yanni,  ex- 
citedly ;  "  this  is  no  time  for  talk.  They  will  not  want 
to  kill  me,  for  what  would  that  profit  them  ?  They 
will  wish  to  take  me  to  the  Turks — and  be  damned  to 
all  Turks  !" 

^^  You  are  right ;  come  on." 

Mitsos  crept  to  his  post  behind  the  bush,  after  tether- 
ing his  mule  well  out  of  sight,  and  Yanni  went  uncon- 
cernedly down  the  hill-side.  As  he  had  expected,  as  soon 
as  Krinos  saw  him  he  strolled  back  into  the  mill  and 
shut  the  door.  Yanni  waited  a  moment,  and  beckoned 
to  Mitsos,  who  strode  noiselessly  down  and  stood  behind 

169 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  corner  of  the  wall,  while  Yanni  came  slowly  on, 
reached  the  mill,  and  tapped  at  the  door.  A  voice  from 
inside  answered  him. 

^nVhois  that?"  it  asked. 

"  It  matters  not,"  said  Yanni.  ^^  Are  yon  grinding 
corn  ?" 

'^  Corn  for  the  hungry,  or  corn  for  the  Turk  ?" 

"  Black  corn  for  the  Turk.'' 

The  door  was  thrown  open  and  Yanni  entered.  The 
moment  after  it  was  flung  to  again,  and  a  half-muffled 
shout  came  from  inside.  Mitsos  sprang  out  and  threw 
himself  against  the  door,  and  went  reeling  in. 

Yanni  was  struggling  in  the  grasp  of  two  men,  the 
Greek  and  the  Turk,  and  Mitsos,  without  losing  a  mo- 
ment, flung  himself  onto  Krinos,  who  was  nearest  him, 
and  dragged  him  off  with  a  throttling  grip.  Krinos 
dropped  his  hold  on  Yanni  and  turned  round  to  grapple 
with  his  new  assailant,  whom,  to  his  dismay,  he  saw 
towering  half  a  head  above  him.  At  that  moment  all 
Mitsos'  cheerfulness  and  good  spirits  were  transformed 
into  a  white  anger  at  the  treachery  of  the  man,  and, 
tightening  his  hold,  he  wrestled  for  his  life.  His  extra 
four  inches  were  counterbalanced  by  Krinos's  extra  ten 
years  of  hardened  bone  and  knitted  muscle,  and  for  the 
first  few  seconds  they  toppled  wildly  about,  and  either 
might  have  won  the  fall.  But  then  Mitsos'  height 
began  to  tell ;  he  heard,  with  a  fierce  joy,  the  cracking 
of  some  bone  in  its  joint,  and  knew  it  came  not  from  him. 

Then,  for  a  moment,  he  felt  his  adversary's  right  arm 
slacken,  and  knew  that  his  hand  was  fumbling  at  his 
belt,  whether  for  a  knife  or  pistol  he  could  not  tell. 
His  own  pistol  was  in  his  belt,  but  tumbling,  as  he  had, 
headlong  into  the  middle  of  the  fight,  he  had  forgotten 
to  take  it  out.     But  there  was  no  doubt  what  that  fum- 

170 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

bling  at  the  belt  meant,  and,  throwing  all  his  force  into 
one  effort,  he  lifted  his  opponent  off  his  feet  and  threw 
him.  Krinos's  left  hand,  with  which,  alone,  he  was  hold- 
ing Mitsos,  lost  its  grasp,  and  the  man  went  head  over 
heels  backward,  and  Mitsos,  by  the  force  of  his  own 
throw,  fell  forward  half  across  him.  Just  in  front  of 
them  the  millstone  was  turning  with  a  slow  relentless- 
ness,  and  for  a  moment  Mitsos  thought  his  own  head 
was  going  to  strike  it;  but  he  fell  free.  Not  so  the 
other  ;  there  was  a  moment's  cessation  of  the  noise;  then 
came  a  hoarse  cry  of  agony,  a  horrid  crack,  and  the  stone 
began  to  turn  again.  Krinos's  head  had  fallen  right  be- 
neath it,  and  it  was  cracked  as  a  nut  may  be  cracked  in 
a  hinge. 

There  was  no  time  for  exultation.  Mitsos  picked  himself 
up  and  gained  his  feet  just  as  Yanni  and  the  Turk,  who 
were  still  struggling  together,  fell — the  Turk  uppermost. 
Mitsos  saw  him  reach  his  hand  to  the  butt  of  his  pistol 
and  draw  it,  keeping  his  knee  on  Yanni  while  he  cocked 
it  with  the  other  hand.  But  in  a  moment  he  had  done 
the  same,  and  the  two  reports  were  almost  simultaneous. 
Just  above  Yanni's  head  there  appeared  on  the  wooden 
floor  a  raking  furrow,  as  if  some  wild  beast's  claw  had 
struck  and  torn  it ;  but  the  Turk  fell  back,  shot  through 
the  head. 

The  smoke  cleared  away,  and  Mitsos  pulled  Yanni  from 
under  the  soldier ;  he  lay  quite  still,  and  the  edge  of  his 
black  curls  was  singed  and  burned.  Mitsos  propped  him 
up  against  the  wall,  and  ran  to  get  water  from  the  mill- 
stream  outside.  When  he  came  back  Yanni's  eyes  were 
open,  and  he  was  looking  about  in  a  dazed,  confused 
way.  Mitsos  poured  a  draught  of  it  down  his  throat  and 
sluiced  his  head,  whereat  Yanni  looked  up  and  smiled 
at  him. 

171 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  Did  I  not  say  it  would  be  very  good  ?'*  he  murmured. 
"Oh,  Mitsos,  the  black  devils  V 

He  sat  up  and  looked  round,  then  pointed  at  the  dead 
body  of  the  Turk. 

**  I  think  I  was  stunned  by  the  fall,''  he  continued. 
''I  remember  falling  and  hitting  my  head  an  awful  bang. 
So  you  shot  him.     Where  is  the  other  ?" 

He  staggered  to  his  feet  and  Jooked  round  at  the  mill- 
stone ;  it  was  streaked  and  clotted  with  something  dark 
and  oily,  and  its  edges  dripped  with  the  same.  Krinos's 
fingers,  though  he  had  been  dead  two  minutes  at  the 
least,  still  opened  and  shut,  like  seaweed  under  the  suck 
of  a  ground-swell,  and  the  nails  scratched  impotently  on 
the  rough-splintered  floor. 

"We  fell— he  fell  there,"  said  Mitsos.  "Come  out- 
side, Yanni.  It  is  not  good  to  stop  here.  Here,  let  me 
put  my  arm  round  you  ;  you  are  unsteady  yet.'' 

Mitsos  looked  anxiously  round  as  they  got  out,  but  no 
one  was  in  sight.  Yanni's  mule  had  strayed  into  the 
field ;  and,  after  depositing  his  cousin  against  the  wall, 
Mitsos  went  after  it,  and,  muffling  its  bell  with  grass,  led 
it  round  to  the  back  of  the  mill,  where  Yanni  was  sit- 
ting. The  latter  was  quickly  recovering,  but  he  felt  his 
head  ruefully. 

"An  awful  bang  !"  he  said.  "  Did  he  fire  at  me  ?  My 
hair  is  burned." 

^*Yes,"  said  Mitsos,  "and  I  at  him.  Fancy  a  soldier 
so  bad  a  shot ;  but  he  was  made  silly  at  the  sight  of  my 
pistol,  I  think.  If  he  hadn't  been  a  fool  of  a  man  he 
would  have  first  fired  at  me ;  for,  indeed,  he  had  you 
safe.     But  I  suppose  there  was  no  time  to  think." 

"  That  was  well  for  me,"  said  Yanni. 

Mitsos  spat  thoughtfully. 

"  Yanni,"  he  said,  "  we  must  think  very  hard  what  wo 
172 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

are  to  do  next.  If  Uncle  Nicholas  was  only  here  !  No 
one  seems  to  have  heard  the  shots,  and  we  must  get  away 
as  quickly  as  we  can.  Are  we  just  to  leave  things  as  they 
are  and  go  ?  Oh/ do  think,  Yanni,  and  think  quickly  ! 
My  head  is  just  one  buzzing." 

"  The  black  devils  !"  snarled  Yanni.  '^  Treacherous, 
black  devils  \" 

*'  Oh,  never  mind  them,"  cried  Mitsos  ;  ''  they  are  in 
hell.     What  are  we  to  do  ?" 

Yanni's  eye  brightened. 

"  This  will  we  do,"  he  said.  "  There  is  much  powder 
here.  Blow  up  the  whole  place.  If  we  leave  it  as  it  is 
they  will  find  those  dead  things.  Yes,  Mitsos,  that  is  the 
way." 

Yanni  got  up. 

*'  Come  inside,"  he  said,  "  and  see  if  there  is  plenty  of 
powder." 

The  two  went  back  and  stopped  the  millwheel,  for  it 
was  a  blood  -  curdling  thing  to  see  its  shredded  burden 
carried  round  and  round.  Mitsos  dragged  the  headless 
wreck  away  and  laid  it  by  the  Turk  in  the  centre  of  the 
room,  while  Yanni  searched  for  the  powder. 

''Look,"  he  said,  at  last,  'Miere  is  a  whole  barrel. 
That  will  do  our  work.  I  know  how  to  make  a  train.  I 
have  done  it  at  home  to  blow  up  rocks.  We  must  waste 
no  time.  Go  back  to  the  house,  Mitsos,  and  bring  your 
mule — oh  yes — and  the  Turk's  horse,  too  ;  it  will  not  do 
to  leave  that,  and  take  the  lot  into  the  woods  above  the 
path,  lower  down  there.  Then  come  back  here.  I  shall 
be  ready.  I  will  make  a  train  that  will  give  us  about 
three  minutes." 

Mitsos  ran  up  to  the  house,  as  Yanni  suggested,  and 
led  the  two  animals  down.  He  stopped  at  the  mill  to 
tie  Yanni's  mule  to  his  own,  and  then  struck  straight  off 

173 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  path  into  the  trees,  and  tethered  them  all  some  three 
hundred  yards  off  where  the  trees  grew  thick.  Then  he 
went  back  to  Yanni. 

Yanni  had  laid  a  train  from  the  centre  of  the  room, 
where  the  bodies  were,  out  under  the  door,  making  it  of 
moist  powder  wrapped  in  thick  paper.  He  had  waited 
for  Mitsos  to  lift  the  barrel,  for  he  was  still  weak  and 
unsteady,  and  they  bored  a  hole  through  it,  so  that  the 
dry  powder  ran  out  into  the  end  of  the  train,  and  then 
closed  the  lid  tight  to  increase  the  force  of  the  explosion. 
Mitsos  put  the  barrel  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  laid  the 
two  bodies  on  it,  and  placed  over  it  all  the  loose  articles 
he  could  find. 

"I  will  fire  it,"  said  he,  "because  it  will  be  best  to 
run,  and  you  can't  run  just  now.  Come  out,  Yanni,  and 
I  will  show  you  where  the  horses  are.  Look ;  do  you 
see  that  big  white  trunk  at  the  edge  of  the  wood  ?  Walk 
there  and  keep  straight  on  ;  you  will  find  them  two  hun- 
dred yards  inside.     Now  go." 

Mitsos  waited  till  Yanni  had  disappeared,  and  then, 
locking  the  door  and  pushing  the  key  underneath  it, 
fired  the  end  of  the  train  and  ran  as  hard  as  his  legs 
would  move  after  Yanni.  He  found  him  with  the  beasts, 
having  taken  from  the  Turk's  horse  the  trappings  and 
saddle,  which  bore  the  star  and  crescent,  and  thrown 
them  into  a  thick  bush.  A  few  moments  afterwards  a 
great  quiver  and  roar  came  to  them  from  the  direction 
of  the  village,  and  they  knew  that  the  powder  had  done 
its  work. 

Mitsos  made  Yanni  mount  the  Turk's  horse,  and  they 
hurried  off  through  the  trees,  meaning  to  make  a  long 
detour  and  come  down  upon  the  next  village  from  the 
far  side. 

174 


CHAPTER  III 
MITSOS   HAS  THE   HYSTERICS 

For  a  space  they  went  on  in  silence ;  it  was  as  much 
as  Yanni  could  do  to  grip  his  horse,  for  he  still  felt 
nauseous  and  giddy  reelings  in  his  head,  and  Mitsos 
trotted  behind,  with  an  incessant  stick  for  the  mules  to 
make  them  keep  up  the  pace.  They  were  of  the  sedater 
sort,  that  hitherto  had  strolled  through  life,  and  they 
did  not  take  kindly  to  a  higher  rate  of  going.  But  at 
the  end  of  some  half  an  hour  Yanni  reined  in. 

'*  Let's  go  slow  a  bit/'  he  said,  "  for  we  are  out  of  the 
range  of  risks.  We  are  in  our  own  country  again  ;  no 
one  saw  us  go  to  the  mill  except  my  cousin  Christos,  and 
they  might  pull  his  tongue  out  before  he  spoke.  Be- 
sides, there  is  nothing  to  say.  The  mill  blew  up.  The 
matter  is  finished." 

Mitsos  assented,  and  threw  himself  down  on  the  ground 
panting  and  blown,  for  the  pace  had  been  stiff.  How- 
ever, a  few  minutes'  rest  and  a  drink  from  the  wooden 
wine-flask  set  his  blood  to  a  slower  time,  and  he  opened 
his  mouth,  and,  to  Yanni's  intense  astonishment,  began 
to  swear.  He  was  in  a  white  -  hot  rage,  and  he  cursed 
Krinos  in  the  name  of  every  saint  in  heaven  and  every 
devil  in  hell,  and  labelled  him  with  each  several  vile  and 
muddy  epithet  he  knew,  and  of  these  the  Greek  tongue 
boasts  an  inimitable  profusion. 

Yanni  was  still  looking  on  in  surprise  when  Mitsos' 
175 


THE    VINTAGE 

mood  veered,  and  he  began  to  laugh,  rocking  himself  to 
and  fro. 

"  Did  you  hear  his  head  crack  ?"  he  jerked  out.  ^'  It 
cracked  like  a  green  nut  in  September.  No,  it  was  more 
like  a  pomegranate  under  the  heel.  Is  my  head  as  messy 
inside  as  that,  think  you,  Yanni  ?  lie  thought  his 
powder  would  make  him  a  rich  man,  and  the  powder 
has  made  chicken-food  of  him.  Oh,  Yanni,  what  shall 
I  do  ?     I  shall  laugh  till  the  Judgment  Day." 

Yanni's  experience  had  not  included  an  exhibition  of 
hysterics,  but  he  judged  that  they  were  not  healthy 
things,  and  must  be  stopped  if  possible. 

"Mitsos,"  he  said,  angrily,  "don't  make  a  fool  of 
yourself.  Stop  laughing  at  once.  Stop  laughing  \"  he 
shouted. 

Mitsos  stared  at  him  a  moment  like  a  chidden  child ; 
the  fit  ended  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun,  and  he  sat 
still  a  minute  or  two,  idly  plucking  the  fragrant  shoots 
of  thyme,  or  tossing  them  in  the  air. 

"  It  has  been  a  great  day,  Yanni,"  he  said.  "  This 
sort  of  adventure  is  like  wine  to  me.  I  think  it  must 
have  made  me  drunk.  And  now  I  have  cursed  that  devil 
I  feel  better.  But  I  was  so  angry  all  the  way  here  that 
I  thought  I  should  have  burst.  I  wonder  what  made  me 
laugh  just  now.  Uncle  Nicholas  told  me  once  that  men 
sometimes  went  crazed  the  first  time  they  killed  any  one. 
He  told  me  that  I  should  probably  be  blooded  before  I 
came  home  again.  My  eyes  I  it  was  so  funny,"  and  he 
began  laughing  again. 

"Oh,  Mitsos,  dear  Mitsos,  for  God's  sake  don't  laugh. 
It's  horrible  to  hear  you,"  said  Yanni,  with  a  sudden 
panic  fear  that  Mitsos  was  indeed  possessed. 

Mitsos  made  a  great  effort  and  checked  himself. 

"  That's  right,"  said  Yanni,  soothing  him  as  he  would 
176 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

soothe  a  child.  **  Drink  some  more  wine,  and  then  stop 
quiet  a  while.     Go  to  sleep  if  you  like." 

Mitsos  drank  some  wine,  shifted  to  an  easier  position, 
and  putting  his  head  on  Yanni's  knee,  who  was  lean- 
ing against  a  tree-trunk  just  above  him,  stretched  out 
his  great  length,  and  in  a  couple  of  minutes  was  fast 
asleep.  Yanni  was  not  very  comfortable,  but  he  sat  as 
still  as  a  stone  for  fear  of  waking  Mitsos.  How  odd  it 
was,  he  thought  to  himself,  that  this  great  cousin  of  his 
should  have  behaved  so  queerly.  He  had  been  so  per- 
fectly cool  and  collected  while  there  was  anything  to  be 
done,  but  as  soon  as  the  need  for  doing  anything  was 
over  he  was  just  a  baby.  During  his  struggle  with  the 
Turk  he  remembered  seeing  Mitsos'  face  as  he  threw 
Krinos,  and  that  mask  of  fury  seemed  to  bear  no  resem- 
blance to  the  cheerful  cousin  ;  he  was  like  a  wild  beast. 
If  anything  had  been  wanting  to  put  the  final  touch  on 
Yanni's  conviction  that  Mitsos  was  the  king  of  men,  it 
was  that  uprising  of  the  wild  beast  within  him. 

The  sun  had  come  out  as  they  sat  there  and  shone 
full  onto  Mitsos'  face,  and  Yanni,  as  gently  as  a  woman, 
pushed  his  cap  over  his  eyes  that  it  should  not  waken 
him,  and  with  infinite  craft  filled  his  pipe  and  managed 
to  get  a  light  from  his  flint  and  steel.  He  felt  almost 
jealous  of  this  girl  whom  Mitsos  loved.  It  was  not  fit 
that  he  should  go  a-mooning  after  womankind,  who  were 
— so  Yanni  thought  —  an  altogether  inferior  breed.  It 
was  Mitsos'  business  to  fight,  and  do  the  work  of  fifty 
men.  How  splendid  he  had  been  one  night  at  Kala- 
mata,  when  they  sat  in  the  cafe  after  supper  !  The 
keeper  of  the  house  had  tried  to  make  Mitsos  drunk,  for 
the  sport  of  seeing  so  long  a  pair  of  legs  in  mutiny,  and 
had  promised  him  that  if  he  could  drink  two  okes  of 
wine  he  should  not  pay  for  them.  This  had  suited  Mit- 
M  177 


THE    VINTAGE 

SOS  excellently,  for  he  was  as  thirsty  as  Sahara.  He  had 
drunk  them  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  and,  to  show  that 
he  was  as  sober  as  a  woman,  he  had  played  draughts 
afterwards  with  one  of  the  Greeks  there,  and  beat  him 
easily  in  the  first  two  games.  Then  his  misguided  little 
opponent  had  tried  to  cheat,  and  Mitsos  rising  up,  a 
tower  of  wrath,  had  dealt  the  other  so  shrewd  a  blow 
over  the  head  with  the  draught-board  that  he  was  fain 
to  play  no  more,  for  other  reasons  than  that  the  draughts 
had  rolled  to  all  corners  of  the  cafe.  Several  men  look- 
ing at  the  game  had  seen  him  cheat,  and  applauded  most 
cordially  Mitsos'  method  of  correction.  They  then  asked 
him  to  drink  more  wine,  but  Mitsos  thanked  them  and 
refused,  saying  he  was  thirsty  no  longer.  However,  they 
stopped  on,  smoking  and  talking,  as  there  was  to  be  no 
journey  the  next  day,  and  Mitsos  had  sung  the  '^  Song 
of  the  Vine-diggers  "  as  Yanni  had  never  heard  it  sung 
before,  for  his  heart  and  voice  were  in  harmony.  De- 
cidedly there  was  no  one  in  the  world  like  him. 

The  inimitable  cousin  stirred  in  his  sleep,  woke,  and 
stretched  himself. 

*^  Oh,  little  Yanni,"  he  said,  "  what  a  brute  I  am  ! 
Have  you  been  sitting  here  all  the  time  with  my  head  on 
you  ?  Why  didn't  you  knock  it  off  ?  But  the  sun  is  get- 
ting low,  and  we  must  be  on  the  road.    How's  the  head  ?" 

*^  Oh,  it's  all  right,"  said  Yanni ;  ^'  a  bruise  like  a  wal- 
nut, but  it  doesn't  ache  any  more.  You  ride,  Mitsos.  I 
can  walk  perfectly." 

Mitsos  wrinkled  up  his  nose. 

"  Indeed  !     Get  on  the  horse." 

And  he  broke  out  again  with  : 

"Dig  we  deep  around  tlie  vines," 

They  struck  straight  down  the  hill,  guessing  that  they 
178 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

had  gone  beyond  the  village  where  they  meant  to  sleep, 
threading  their  way  slowly  through  the  aromatic-smell- 
ing pines,  and  going  softly  on  the  fallen  needles.  A  gen- 
tle wind  from  the  south  whispered  in  the  boughs  over- 
head, and  Mitsos,  purged  by  his  sleep  from  the  unwonted 
trouble  of  his  nerves,  whistled  and  sang  as  they  went 
along.  The  sun  was  near  its  setting  when  they  got  out 
of  the  wood,  but  they  found  their  guess  had  been  cor- 
rect, and  soon  struck  the  road  leading  into  the  village 
from  the  north.  This  village,  Kalovryssi,  was  a  strong- 
hold of  the  Mavromichales,  and  Yanni  knew  that  they 
would  have  a  great  welcome  when  they  appeared.  At 
the  same  time,  there  was  a  small  depot  of  Turkish  sol- 
diers there,  and  it  had  been  worth  while  to  take  the 
precaution  of  making  a  detour  and  entering  from  the 
north. 

This  Turkish  garrison  of  Kalovryssi  had  a  strangely 
comfortless  life  of  it,  for  the  scornful  clan,  secure  in 
their  remote  position,  made  it  quite  clear  that  they  were 
not  to  be  interfered  with  in  any  way.  If  the  govern- 
ment thought  fit  to  keep  soldiers  there,  well  and  good, 
they  should  be  unmolested  till  the  time  came  ;  but  in  the 
interval  they  would  be  wise  to  keep  exceedingly  quiet, 
buy  their  provisions  at  double  price  without  a  murmur, 
and  if  they  ventured  to  meddle  in  any  way  with  the  Mav- 
romichales's  womankind,  why  the  Mavromichales  would 
see  to  it.  Otherwise  they  did  not  interfere  with  the  sol- 
diers, except  perhaps  on  festa  days,  when  the  clan  got 
drunk  in  honor  of  the  saint  and  demanded  diversion  in 
the  evening.  Then  it  is  true  they  called  them  by  shock- 
ing names,  and  warned  them  for  their  own  sakes  to  keep 
within  barracks,  lest  ignominious  things  should  happen 
to  them. 

The  two  boys  entered  the  village  unmolested  and  went 
179 


THE    VINTAGE 

to  the  cafe,  where  they  were  sure  to  find  friends,  and  no 
sooner  had  they  got  there  than  a  great  bearded  man,  as 
tall  as  Mitsos,  came  tumbling  over  chairs  and  tables  and 
took  Yanni  off  his  horse  as  if  he  had  been  a  child ;  for 
this  clan  were  warm-hearted,  Irish-souled  folk,  and  the 
two  were  kept  like  kings  that  night. 

The  great  bearded  man  was  Petrobey^'s  brother,  and 
to  him  Yanni  knew  they  might  freely  tell  everything. 
Never  in  his  life  had  that  genial  giant  been  the  prey  of 
so  many  conflicting  emotions.  He  positively  trembled 
with  suspense  when  Yanni  described  how  he  had  gone 
into  the  mill  alone,  and  kept  interrupting  him  to  say 
"Go  on,  go  on."  He  stared  at  Mitsos  admiringly  when 
he  heard  how  that  young  man  had  won  the  fall  with 
Krinos,  and  gave  a  whistle  of  keen  appreciation  and 
cracked  his  fingers  when  he  learned  that  Krinos^  skull 
had  been  crunched  beneath  the  stone.  He  wiped  his 
forehead  nervously  when  Yanni  told  him  how  he  had 
been  thrown ;  he  bit  his  lip  when  the  Turk  drew  his 
pistol ;  and  finally,  when  Mitsos  shot  the  soldier  through 
the  head,  he  sprang  off  his  chair,  danced  excitedly  around 
the  room,  and  embraced  Mitsos  with  much  fervor.  He 
choked  with  laughter  when  he  heard  how  they  had  de- 
cided to  blow  the  mill  up,  and  said  "  Pouf  I"  with  loud 
solemnity  when  he  was  told  that  the  explosion  had 
taken  place  satisfactorily ;  finally,  when  Yanni  came  to 
Mitsos'  hysterical  fit  in  the  wood  his  face  clouded  with 
anxiety,  and  he  ran  to  the  cupboard  and  fairly  forced 
down  his  throat  about  half  a  pint  of  raw  spirits. 

"Well,"  he  said,  when  the  recital  was  over,  "but  this 
is  a  great  day  for  the  clan.  And  you,  too,  are  of  the 
clan,"  he  said,  turning  to  Mitsos,  "and  by  the  God 
above  who  made  the  clan,  and  the  devil  below  who 
made    the  Turk,   the  clan  is  proud  of  you.     Ah,  but 

180 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

there  will  be  a  score  of  them  in  presently,  and  if  the 
dear  little  Turks  happen  to  meet  any  of  them  in  the 
street  as  they  go  home  again,  I  would  not  be  surprised 
if  we  find  them  hanging  upsidedown  by  the  heels 
in  the  morning.  You  Avill  be  near  two  metres  high, 
Mitsos  !" 

The  clan,  as  Katsi  Mavromichales  had  prophesied,  soon 
learned  that  there  was  something  going  forward,  and 
dropped  into  his  house  in  groups  of  three  and  four  to 
learn  what  it  was.  The  recital  had  to  be  gone  through 
again  to  a  most  appreciative  audience,  for  Katsi  took 
on  his  own  broad  shoulders  the  responsibility  of  making 
it  public,  and  the  only  thing  that  failed  to  make  the  har- 
mony of  the  evening  complete  was  that  the  little  soldiers 
had  all  gone  home  before  the  clan  came  out.  The  lat- 
ter contemptuously  supposed  the  soldiers  were  tired,  for 
were  they  not  little  men  ?  A  few  of  the  younger  of  the 
members  had  gone  in  a  party  to  the  barracks  and  tried 
to  rouse  the  little  men  by  throwing  stones  at  the  win- 
dows, but  without  result,  and  had  subsequently  quarrelled 
so  violently  at  the  cafe  over  the  rival  merits  of  the  two 
corollaries,  "The  little  men  sleep  sound"  and  "The 
little  men  are  very  deaf,"  that  Katsi  had  to  go  out  and 
knock  their  heads  together,  which  he  did  with  cheerful 
impartiality,  the  one  against  the  other. 

Confirmatory  news  of  the  effects  of  the  explosion 
came  from  Nymphia  next  morning,  and  fulfilled  the 
most  sanguine  hopes.  The  mill,  so  said  the  Greek  who 
brought  word,  was  blown  to  atoms,  and  as  for  Krinos, 
he  was  as  if  he  had  never  been.  A  broken  skull  had 
been  found  some  yards  off,  but  of  the  rest  of  him  no 
adequate  remains  were  extant.  It  appeared  also  that 
there  had  been  another  man  with  him  at  the  same 
time,  for  over  forty  teeth  had  been  found  by  the  enter- 

181 


THE    VINTAGE 

prising  youth  of  the  village,  which  was  more  than  Krinos 
ever  had. 

Katsi  and  a  fine  selection  of  cousins  accompanied  the 
two  for  a  mile  or  so  out  of  the  village  next  morning  to 
set  them  on  their  Journey.  There  were  no  more  mes- 
sages to  deliver,  for  they  were  now  in  the  country  of  the 
clan,  which  was  worked  from  Panitza  by  Petrobey,  and 
Mitsos,  as  the  slayer  of  the  Turk  and  the  treacherous 
Krinos,  enjoyed  the  sweet  sacrifices  of  hero  -  worship 
offered  by  his  cousins.  Two  of  them  in  particular,  of 
about  his  own  age,  could  only  look  at  him  in  a  state  of 
rapt  adoration,  and  feebly  express  their  feelings  by  quar- 
relling as  to  which  should  lead  his  mule.  Yanni,  good 
lad,  grudged  Mitsos  not  one  word  or  look  of  this  admira- 
tion which  was  so  showered  on  him  ;  it  warmed  his  heart 
to  see  that  others  like  himself  recognized  the  greatness 
of  their  splendid  cousin. 

On  the  brow  of  the  hill  above  the  village  Katsi  and 
the  elder  men  stopped  and  went  back  to  their  work,  but 
the  younger  ones  escorted  them  as  far  as  their  mid-day 
halt — lithe,  black-eyed  young  Greeks,  girt  about  with 
the  dogs  of  the  clan,  Morgos  and  Osman,  Brahim  and 
Maniati,  Orloff  and  Machmoud,  Psari  and  Drakon,  Arapi, 
Cacarapi,  Vlachos,  Mavros,  Tourkos  and  Tourkophagos, 
Maskaras  and  Ali,  all  great,  stately  dogs,  shaggy-haired 
and  eyed  like  wolves,  and  a  contingent  of  smaller  dogs 
of  the  most  rascally  kind,  Pyr  and  Perdiki,  Canella  and 
Fundouki,  who  prosecuted  an  eternal  feud  with  each 
other  to  keep  themselves  fighting  fit,  and  allowed  no 
man  to  pass  along  the  road  until  a  passage  had  been 
whipped  through  them  by  one  or  other  of  their  masters. 
To  Mitsos,  who  had  lived  so  much  alone,  with  only  the 
companionship  of  his  father,  to  be  thrown  suddenly 
among  this  crowd  of  boys  of  his  own  age,  who  wel- 

182 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

corned  him  as  a  cousin  and  hailed  him  as  a  hero,  was 
an  incomparable  pleasure,  and  with  Nauplia,  and  all  that 
Nauplia  held,  getting  nearer  day  by  day,  he  was  utterly 
content. 

All  that  afternoon  they  travelled  quietly  on,  keeping 
close  to  the  coast,  and  about  sunset  saw  Mavromati, 
where  they  were  to  sleep,  perched  high  upon  the  hills 
below  an  eastern  spur  of  Taygetus.  The  tops  of  the 
range  were  covered  with  snow,  and  the  low  sun  for  a 
few  minutes  turned  the  whole  to  one  incredible  rose. 
But  below  in  the  plain  there  was  already  a  hint  of  spring 
in  the  air  ;  the  worst  of  the  winter  was  passed,  its  armory 
of  storms  and  squalls  was  spent,  and  the  earth  had  stirred 
and  thrown  forth  the  early  crocuses.  And  something  of 
spring  was  in  the  hearts  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  boys  as 
they  wondered,  not  knowing  that  they  wondered,  what 
the  year  would  bring.  For  another  more  glorious  spring 
was  ready  to  burst  forth,  and  that,  which  in  Greece 
through  a  winter  of  bleak  and  storm  -  smitten  centuries 
had  lain  battered  by  the  voUeyings  of  oppressive  clouds, 
and  bitten  and  stung  with  frost,  had  meanwhile  so 
drunk  life  into  all  its  fibres  from  that  which  would 
have  done  it  to  death,  that  already  the  green  of  its 
upspringing  was  vivid  on  the  mountain-side,  and  held 
promise  of  a  perfect  flower,  tyranny  being  turned  into 
the  mother  of  freedom,  and  smiting  into  strength. 


CHAPTER  IV 
YANNI   PAYS   A   VISIT  TO   THE  TURK 

Their  last  day's  journey  to  Panitza  was  no  more  than 
a  five  hours'  goiiig,  and  by  mid -day  the  two  boys  had 
crossed  the  ridge  of  mountain  which  toppled  above  it, 
and  saw  it  nestled  in  a  hollow  below  them.  There,  too, 
they  found  Petrobey  himself,  who  had  ridden  out  to  meet 
them,  both  to  give  them  news  and  take  theirs.  After 
they  had  eaten,  Mitsos  told  their  story,  at  which  the  soul 
of  Petrobey  was  lifted  high  within  him,  and  he  was  filled 
with  an  exceeding  joy  when  he  heard  of  the  fate  of  Krinos. 

^'  But  all  this  spying  and  suspicion  among  the  Turks 
make  the  next  order  the  more  necessary,''  he  said,  when 
Mitsos  had  finished.  ^' Yanni,  lad,  I  am  very  sorry,  but 
it  is  Tripoli  for  you  and  Nauplia  for  Mitsos." 

Yanni  looked  up  at  Mitsos. 

"  Oh,  lucky  one  !"  he  said,  below  his  breath,  '^  see 
that  Suleima  has  forgotten  you  not." 

Then  aloud: 

*'  When  shall  I  have  to  go  to  that  kennel,  father  ?"  he 
said. 

"  You  can  stay  here  two  days  or  three,  and  then  you 
and  Mitsos  will  go  together.  That  Mehemet  Salik  has  a 
sharp  nose ;  but  you  shall  be  red  herring  to  him,  Yanni, 
and  he  will  smell  no  farther  afield." 

Yanni  wrinkled  up  his  face  with  an  expression  of  pun- 
gent disgust. 

184 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

"I  want  no  Turk  smelling  round  me,"  he  said.  ''^It 
is  the  devil's  business.  How  long  must  I  be  there,  think 
you  r 

"  Not  long,  I  hope.  A  month,  perhaps.  It  will  be  an 
experience  worth  paying  for,  even  for  you.  They  will 
treat  you  royally,  for  they  have  no  desire  to  make  enemies 
among  the  clan.  I  want  Mitsos  to  go  with  you  as  your 
servant  for  a  day  or  two,  so  that  he  too  may  have  free 
access  to  the  governor's  house  and  know  where  you  will 
be  in  case  they  get  more  alarmed  and  keep  you  close,  so 
that  when  the  time  comes  for  your  escape  he  may  easily 
find  you." 

"That  will  be  a  fine  day  for  me,"  said  Yanni. 

"  And  what  for  me,"  asked  Mitsos,  "after  I  leave  Yanni 
there  ?" 

"  You  go  to  Nauplia  with  a  letter  from  me  for  Nicholas, 
but  I  expect  you  will  stay  there  just  as  long  as  the  gull 
when  he  dips  in  the  sea  and  out  again.  There  will  then 
be  another  journey  for  you  northward  to  Patras  to  speak 
with  Germanos.  However,  Nicholas  will  tell  you  all 
that." 

Yanni  sat  up  and  pulled  Mitsos'  hair. 

"  0  lazy  dog," he  said,  "is  it  for  this  I  pay  you  wages, 
that  you  should  lie  in  the  grass  by  your  master " — and 
he  felt  in  his  pouch  and  found  his  tobacco  gone — "and, 
by  the  Virgin !  take  his  tobacco,  and  then  not  be  able  to 
fill  a  pipe  fit  for  a  Turk  to  smoke  ?" 

"Fill  it  for  me,  Yanni,"  said  the  other,  returning  the 
tobacco,  "and  let  go  my  hair  before  there  is  trouble  for 
a  little  cousin  of  mine." 

"You  shall  brush  my  clothes  and  sew  my  buttons," 
continued  Yanni,  "  and  lay  my  supper,  and  eat  of  my 
leavings.  It  is  a  fine  thing  to  have  a  good  strong  servant. 
There's  your  pipe." 

185 


THE    VINTAGE 

Mitsos  reached  out  a  huge  hand,  plucked  Yanni's  pipe 
from  his  mouth,  and  lit  his  own  at  it. 

"  There  is  a  good  clean  smell  abroad  to-day,"  he  said. 
^'It  is  the  first  of  spring.  Just  think;  last  year  only  I 
went  out  picking  flowers  with  the  little  boys  and  girls  on 
this  day,  and  here  am  I  now  a  man  of  war.  It  was  good 
to  sleep  under  the  pines  and  wake  to  them  whispering ; 
was  it  not,  Yanni  ?  Perhaps  that  will  come  again  when 
the  kennel-work  is  over." 

"  Easter  candles  give  I  to  the  Mother  of  God,"  said 
Yanni,  "for  the  days  that  are  gone,  and  a  candle  more 
for  every  day  we  journey  together,  Mitsos." 

"  The  Blessed  Mother  of  God  will  have  a  brave  lighting 
up  one  night,  then,"  said  Petrobey,  ''if  things  go  well 
with  us.  There's  many  a  tramp  for  you  both  yet.  And 
who  will  be  paying  for  the  candles,  little  Yanni  ?" 

The  third  day  after,  the  two  set  out  for  Tripoli,  Yanni 
trinketed  out  in  his  best  clothes,  as  was  fit  for  the  son 
of  a  great  chief,  and  going  forward  on  a  fine  gray  horse, 
Mitsos  behind  him  on  his  own  pony,  in  the  dress  of  a 
servant,  leading  the  baggage-mule.  Four  days'  travelling, 
for  they  rode  but  short  hours,  being  in  no  way  very 
eager  to  get  to  the  *' kennel-work,"  as  Mitsos  called  it, 
brought  them  to  Tripoli,  where  Yanni  went  straight  to 
the  governor's  house,  leaving  Mitsos  outside  in  the  square 
with  the  beasts. 

The  house  stood  on  one  side  of  the  square,  but  to 
those  outside  showed  only  a  bald  face  of  wall,  pierced 
here  and  there  with  a  few  iron  gratings.  As  Mitsos 
waited  he  saw  a  woman's  face  thickly  veiled  peering  out 
from  one  of  these,  and  guessed  rightly  that  here  were  the 
women's  quarters.  An  arched  gateway  leading  into  the 
garden  and  closed  by  a  heavy  door,  which  had  been  open- 
ed to  Yanni  by  the  porter,  and  shut  again  immediately 

186 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

after  he  had  entered,  alone  gave  access  to  the  premises. 
After  waiting  a  few  minutes  the  door  was  again  opened, 
and  a  Turkish  servant  came  out  to  help  him  to  carry  in 
the  luggage.  But  the  luggage  was  but  light  and  Mitsos 
carried  it  all  in  himself,  while  the  porter,  leaning  on  his 
long  stick,  and  resplendent  in  his  embroidered  waistcoat 
and  red  gaiters  trimmed  with  gold,  looked  at  him  with 
indolent  insolence,  playing  with  the  silver-chased  handle 
of  his  long  dagger.  Behind  the  gate  stood  a  small  room 
for  the  porter,  and  on  the  left,  as  he  entered,  the  side  of 
the  block  of  building  he  had  seen  from  the  street.  A  door 
was  pierced  in  the  middle  of  it,  but  the  windows,  as  out- 
side, were  narrowly  barred.  The  path  was  bordered  on 
each  side  by  a  strip  of  gay  garden-bed,  and  following  the 
porter's  directions  he  went  straight  on  and  past  the  .cor- 
ner of  the  main  block,  from  the  end  of  which  ran  out  an- 
other narrow  building  right  up  to  the  bounding  wall  away 
from  the  street.  In  front  of  this  lay  a  square  garden 
planted  with  orange -trees  and  flowering  shrubs,  the 
house  itself  running  from  the  square  to  the  bounding 
wall  at  the  back. 

This  second  block  of  narrow  buildings  was  two-storied, 
the  upper  story  being  faced  by  a  balcony  which  was 
reached  from  below  by  an  outside  staircase.  Four  rooms 
opened  onto  this,  and,  still  following  his  directions,  he 
knocked  at  the  first  of  the  doors  and  a  young  Turk  came 
out,  who,  seeing  Mitsos  with  the  luggage,  reached  down 
a  key  and  proceeded  to  open  the  doors  of  the  next  two 
rooms.  These,  he  said  to  Mitsos,  were  his  master's  rooms, 
and  the  end  room  was  a  slip  of  a  place  where  he  could 
sleep  if  his  master  wished  to  have  him  near.  So  Mit- 
sos, as  Yanni  did  not  appear,  unpacked  his  luggage  and 
waited  for  him. 

Yanni  came  up  presently,  accompanied  by  the  porter, 

187 


THE    VINTAGE 

and  was  shown  into  his  rooms,  where  Mitsos  was  busy 
arranging  things.  He  shut  the  door  hastily,  and,  wait- 
ing till  the  steps  of  the  porter  had  creaked  away  down 
the  balcony  steps,  broke  out  with  an  oath. 

"  The  very  devil,  Mitsos,"  he  said  ;  "  but  this  is  no 
good  job  we  are  on.  Here  am  I,  and  from  within  this 
kennel-place  I  may  not  stir.  I  sleep  and  am  fed,  and  for 
exercise  I  may  walk  in  that  pocket-handkerchief  of  a 
garden  and  pick  a  flower  to  smell,  but  out  of  these  walls 
I  don't  move." 

Mitsos  whistled. 

"It  is  then  good  that  I  came,"  he  said.  "I  suppose 
this  Turk  next  door  is  your  keeper.  Oh,  Yanni,  but  we 
shall  have  bitter  dealings  with  him  before  you  get  out  of 
this.  I  shall  stop  here  to-night — there  is  a  room  I  may 
use  next  this — and  you  inside  and  I  outside  must  just 
examine  the  lie  of  things.  I  will  go  out  now,  round  to 
the  stables  to  see  if  the  horses  are  properly  cared  for,  and 
before  I  come  back  I  will  have  gone  round  the  outside  of 
this  place  and  seen  what  is  beyond  these  walls.  And  you 
look  about  inside." 

Mitsos  returned  in  about  an  hour.  '^  It  wasn't  good," 
he  said,  "  but  it  might  have  been  worse."  From  the 
square  it  was  impossible  to  get  into  the  place,  except 
through  the  gate,  and  equally  impossible  to  get  out.  To 
the  right  of  the  gate  stood  the  corner  house  of  the  square, 
and  next  to  it  a  row  of  houses  opening  out  on  the  street 
leading  from  the  square,  and  there  was  no  getting  in  that 
way.  On  the  left  the  long  wall  of  the  back  of  the  house 
looked  out  blankly  into  another  corresponding  street  run- 
ning into  the  square,  but  farther  down  things  were  not 
hopeless ;  for  the  house  next  Mehemet's  stood  back  from 
the  street  in  the  middle  of  its  garden,  and  was  enclosed 
by  an  eight-foot  wall,  "None  so  high,"  quoth  Mitsos, 

188 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

*'  but  that  a  bigger  man  than  you  could  get  up."  Stand- 
ing on  the  top  of  the  wall,  it  would  be  possible  to  get 
onto  the  roof  of  the  block  of  buildings  in  which  they 
were,  and  from  there  down  onto  the  balcony,  which  was 
covered  in  and  supported  by  pillars,  one  of  which  stood 
in  front  of  Yanni's  door.  "  And  where  a  man  has  come, 
there  may  two  go,"  said  Mitsos,  in  conclusion;  "so  do 
not  look  as  if  the  marrow  had  left  your  bones,  Yanni." 

"It's  all  very  good  for  you,"  said  Yanni,  mournfully; 
"  but  here  am  I  cooped  up  like  a  tame  hen  for  a  month, 
or  it  may  be  more,  in  this  devil-kennel  place,  with  a  gar- 
den to  walk  in  and  an  orange  to  suck.  Eh,  Mitsos,  but 
it  will  be  a  gay  life  for  me  sitting  here  in  this  scented 
town.  A  fat -bellied,  slow -footed  cousin  will  you  find 
when  you  come  for  me.  I  doubt  not  I  shall  be  sitting 
cross-legged  on  the  floor  with  a  narghile,  and  a  string  of 
beads,  and  a  flower  in  my  hair." 

"  Oh,  you'll  soon  get  fit  again  on  the  mountains,"  said 
Mitsos,  cheerfully.  "I  expect  it  will  be  quick  going 
when  I  come  to  fetch  you  out  of  this." 

Yanni  nodded  his  head  towards  the  Turk's  room  next 
door. 

"Some  night  when  you  come  tramping  on  the  roof 
overhead,"  he  said,  "  will  he  not  wake  and  pluck  you  by 
the  two  heels  as  you  come  down  onto  the  balcony  ?" 

Mitsos  grinned. 

"There  will  be  fine  doings  that  night,"  he  said.  "If 
only  you  looked  into  the  street  we  could  arrange  that 
you  should  be  at  the  window  every  night,  and  I  could 
whistle  you  a  signal ;  but  here,  bad  luck  to  it !  I  could 
whistle  till  my  lips  were  in  rags  and  you  would  not  hear. 
I  shall  have  to  come  in  myself." 

Mitsos  stopped  in  Tripoli  two  days,  and  before  he  left 
Yanni  had  plucked  up  heart  again  concerning  the  future. 

189 


THE    VINTAGE 

However  much  the  Turks  might  in  their  hearts  distrust 
the  scornful  clan,  they  could  not  afford  to  bring  that 
nest  of  hornets  about  their  ears  without  grave  reason. 
Yanni  had  but  to  ask  for  a  thing  and  he  had  it ;  it  was 
only  not  allowed  him  to  set  foot  outside  the  house  and 
garden.  About  his  ultimate  safety  he  had  no  shadow  of 
doubt.  Mitsos  had  examined  the  wall  again,  and  de- 
clared confidently  that  he  would  not  find  the  slightest 
difficulty  in  getting  in,  and  that  their  exit,  with  the  help 
of  a  bit  of  rope,  was  in  the  alphabet  of  the  use  of  limbs. 
The  Turk  who  was  Yanni's  keeper  was  the  only  other 
occupant  of  that  part  of  the  house,  the  story  below  be- 
ing kitchens  and  washing-places  not  tenanted  at  night. 
''And  for  the  Turk,''  said  Yanni,  ''we  will  make  gags 
and  other  arrangements."  In  the  mean  time  he  announced 
his  intention  of  being  a  model  of  discretion  and  peace- 
fulness,  so  that  no  suspicion  might  be  aroused. 

Mitsos  was  to  start  on  the  third  day,  and  it  was  still 
the  grayness  that  precedes  sunrise  when  he  came  into 
Yanni's  room  equipped  for  going.  Yanni  had  told  Me- 
hemet  Salik  that  his  father  could  not  spare  him  longer, 
and  that  he  was  to  go  home  at  once ;  whereat  Mehemet 
had  very  courteously  offered  to  put  another  Turkish  ser- 
vant at  his  disposal,  a  proposition  which  Yanni  declined 
with  some  alacrity,  as  such  an  arrangement  would  mean 
another  Turk  in  that  block  of  building. 

"  And,  0  little  Mitsos,"  said  Yanni,  "  come  for  me  as 
quick  as  may  be.  I  shall  be  weary  for  a  sight  of  you. 
Dear  cousin,  we  have  had  good  days  together,  and  may 
we  have  more  soon,  for  I  have  a  great  love  for  you." 

Mitsos  kissed  him. 

"Yes,  Yanni,"  he  said,  "as  soon  as  I  can  come  I  will, 
and  nothing,  not  Suleima  herself,  shall  make  me  tarry 
for  an  hour  till  you  are  out  again." 

190 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

**  Ah  !  you  have  Suleima,"  said  Yanni ;  *^but  for  me, 
Mitsos,  there  is  none  like  you.  So,  good-bye,  cousin ; 
forget  me  not,  but  come  quickly." 

And  Mitsos  swore  the  oath  of  the  clan  to  him  that 
neither  man,  woman,  nor  child,  nor  riches,  nor  honor, 
should  make  him  tarry  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  for  him 
to  come  again,  and  gave  him  his  hand  on  it,  and  then 
went  down  to  saddle  his  pony  with  a  blithe  heavy-heart- 
edness  about  him,  for  on  one  side  he  was  leaving  an  ex- 
cellent good  comrade,  but  on  in  front  there  was  waiting 
Sulci  ma. 

All  day  he  travelled,  and  the  moon  which  rose  about 
midnight  showed  him  the  bay  just  beneath  him,  all 
smooth  and  ashine  with  light.  He  had  taken  a  more 
roundabout  path,  so  as  to  avoid  passing  through  Argos 
at  night,  and  another  hour  of  quick  going  brought  him 
down  to  the  head  of  the  sandy  beach  where  he  had  fished 
with  Suleima,  and  when  he  saw  it  his  heart  sang  to  him. 
A  southerly  breeze  whistled  among  the  rushes,  and  set 
tiny  razor -edged  ripples  prattling  on  the  pebbles,  and 
sweet  was  the  well-remembered  freshness  of  the  sea,  and 
sweet,  but  with  how  exquisite  a  spice  of  bitterness,  the 
remembrance  of  one  night  three  weeks  ago.  Then  on 
again  down  the  narrow  path,  where  blackthorn  and  olive 
brushed  him  as  he  passed,  by  the  great  white  house  with 
the  sea-wall  he  knew  well,  and  into  the  road  just  opposite 
his  father's  house.  The  dog  rushed  out  from  the  veranda 
intent  on  slaughter  of  this  midnight  intruder,  but  at 
Mitsos'  whispered  word  he  jumped  up  fawning  on  his 
hand,  and  in  a  couple  of  minutes  more  Nicholas,  who 
was  a  light  sleeper,  and  had  been  awakened  by  the  bark, 
unfastened  the  door. 

'^Mitsos,  is  it  little  Mitsos?"  said  the  well-known 
voice. 

191 


THE    VINTAGE 

"Yes,  Uncle  Nicholas/'  he  said,  "I  have  come  back." 

Mitsos  slept  late  the  next  morning,  and  Nicholas, 
though  he  waited  impatiently  enough  for  his  waking,  let 
him  have  his  sleep  out,  for  though  he  despised  the  ne- 
cessities of  life,  such  as  eating  and  drinking,  he  had  the 
utmost  respect  for  the  simpler  luxuries,  such  as  the  fill 
of  sleep  and  washing,  and  it  was  not  till  after  nine  that 
Mitsos  stirred  and  awoke  with  a  great  lazy  strength  lying 
in  him.  Nicholas  had  had  the  great  wooden  tub  filled 
for  his  bath,  and  while  he  dressed  made  him  coffee  and 
boiled  his  eggs,  for  times  had  gone  hard  with  Constan- 
tine,  and  he  could  no  longer  keep  a  servant.  And  as 
soon  as  Mitsos  had  finished  breakfast  he  and  Nicholas 
fell  to  talk. 

First  Mitsos  described  his  adventure  down  to  his  part- 
ing with  Yanni,  and  the  man  of  few  words  spoke  not  till 
he  had  finished.  Then  he  said  —  and  his  words  were 
milk  and  honey  to  the  boy  : 

"It  could  not  have  been  better  done,  little  Mitsos. 
Now  for  Petrobey's  letter." 

He  read  it  out  to  Mitsos  : 

"Dear  Cousin, — This  will  Mitsos  bring  you,  aud  I  desire  no 
better  messenger.  He  will  tell  you  what  he  has  been  doing  ;  and 
I  could  hear  that  story  many  times  without  being  tired.  Yanni, 
poor  lad,  is  kennelled  in  Tripoli,  and  in  this  matter  some  precision 
will  be  needed,  for  now  we  are  already  being  rung  to  the  feast 
['Petrobey  will  not  stick  to  home-brewed  words,'  remarked  Nich- 
olas], and  my  poor  lad  must  remain  in  Tripoli  till  the  nick  of  the 
moment.  Once  he  is  safe  out  we  will  fall  to,  and  he  must  not  be 
out  till  the  last  possible  moment.  Oh,  Nicholas,  be  very  careful 
and  tender  for  the  boy.  Again,  the  meeting  of  primates  is  sum- 
moned for  early  in  March.  Moles  aud  owls  may  not  see  what  tiiis 
means.  Some  excuse  must  be  found  so  that  they  go  not ;  therefore, 
cousin,  lay  hands  on  that  weaving  brain  of  yours  until  it  answers 
wisely  ['What  a  riddling  fellow  this  is  !'  growled  the  reader],  and 

192 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

talk  with  Germanos  through  the  mouth  of  Mitsos.  A  further  news 
for  you.  The  monks  of  Ithome  have  turned  warmly  to  their  coun- 
try, so  there  will  be  no  lack  of  hands  in  the  south,  and  they  from 
Megaspelaion  had  better  keep  to  their  own  country,  and  outbreak 
at  the  same  time  as  we  at  Kalamata,  so  shall  then  be  the  more  mag- 
nificent confusion,  and  from  the  north  as  well  as  the  south  will  the 
dogs  run  into  Tripoli.  Some  signal  will  be  needed,  so  that  on  the 
day  that  we  rise  in  the  south  they  too  may  make  trouble  in  the 
north  ;  some  device  of  fiery  beacons,  1  should  say." 

Here  Petrobey's  epistolary  style  broke  down  and  he 
finished  in  good  colloquial  Greek  : 

"Oh,  cousin,  but  a  feast  day  is  coming,  and  there  will  be  a  yelp 
and  a  howl  from  Kalamata  to  Patras.  By  God  1  I'd  have  given  fifty 
brace  of  woodcock,  though  they  are  scarce  this  year,  to  see  that 
barbarian  nephew  of  yours  throw  Krinos  under  the  millstone  ;  and 
my  boy  Yanni  has  the  cunning  of  an  old  grandfather.  I  think 
Mitsos  can  tell  you  all  else.  Come  here  yourself  as  soon  as  you 
safely  may.     The  mother  of  God  and  your  name-saint  protect  you  ! 

"Petros  Mavromichales. 

' '  Tell  Mitsos  about  the  devil-ships.    There  will  not  be  much  time 

afterwards." 

<»- 

Nicholas  thumped  the  letter  as  it  lay  on  the  table. 

"Now,  Mitsos/' he  said,  "tell  me  all  that  you  have 
to  do.  Yes,  take  a  pipe  and  give  yourself  a  few  minutes 
to  think.'' 

Mitsos  smoked  in  silence  a  few  minutes,  and  then 
turned  to  Nicholas. 

"  This  is  it,"  he  said.  "First  of  all,  I  go  to  Patras— 
no,  first  I  shall  go  to  Megaspelaion  to  tell  the  monks  that 
they  will  be  wanted  in  the  north  and  not  the  south,  and 
arrange  some  signals,  so  that  we  from  Taygetus  or  Pan- 
itza  or  Kalamata  can  communicate  with  them.  Then  I 
go  to  Patras,  bearing  some  message  from  you  to  Germa- 
nos, whereby  he  shall  excuse  himself  from  going  to  Trip- 
oli with  all  the  primates,  for  that  is  a  trap  to  get  them 
N  193 


THE    VINTAGE 

into  the  power  of  the  Turk.  Then  there  is  some  busi- 
ness about  devil-ships  which  I  do  not  understand,  and  at 
the  last  I  have  to  get  Yanni  safely  out  of  Tripoli.  But 
before  that  I  imagine  you  will  have  gone  to  my  cousin 
Petrobey." 

Nicholas  nodded  approvingly. 

"You  have  a  clear  head  for  so  large  a  boy,"  he  said, 
"  though  apparently  you  are  not  so  crafty  as  Yanni. 
Now  what  we  have  to  do,  now  this  moment,  is  to  invent 
some  excuse  whereby  Germanos  and  the  primates  will 
find  means  to  disobey  Mehemet  Salik  when  he  summons 
them  to  Tripoli.  Oh,  Mitsos,  but  it  is  a  wise  man^s 
thoughts  that  we  want." 

Mitsos  knitted  his  forehead. 

"  Can't  they  go  there  and  then  escape,  as  Yanni  is  to 
do  ?"  he  said,  precipitately. 

Nicholas  shook  his  head  in  reproof. 

"Fifty  cassocked  primates  climbing  over  a  town  wall ! 
Little  Mitsos,  you  are  no  more  than  a  fool. " 

Mitsos  laughed. 

"So  Yanni  often  told  me,"  he  said.  "I'm  afraid  it's 
true." 

"  Try  and  be  a  shade  more  sensible.  Think  of  all  the 
impossible  ways  of  doing  it,  and  then  see  what  is  left,  for 
that  will  be  the  right  way.  Now  first,  they  must  either 
refuse  to  go  point-blank  or  seem  to  be  obeying.  Cer- 
tainly they  must  not  refuse  outright  to  go  ;  so  that  leaves 
us  with  them  seeming  to  obey." 

"Well,  they  mustn't  get  there,"  said  Mitsos;  "so 
they  must  stop  on  the  way." 

"  That  is  true.  Why  should  they  stop  on  the  way  ? 
We  will  go  slow  here." 

"There  must  be  something  that  stops  them,"  said  Mit- 
sos, with  extreme  caution. 

194 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

*'  Yes,  you  are  going  very  slow  indeed,  but  it  is  a  fault 
on  the  right  side.  Something  must  stop  them,  which 
even  in  the  eyes  of  the  Turks  will  seem  reasonable  and 
enable  them  all  to  disperse  again,  for  they  will  all  go  to- 
gether from  Patras.  Oh,  why  did  my  mother  give  birth 
to  a  fool  r 

Mitsos  suddenly  got  up  and  held  his  finger  in  the  air. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  he  cried,  "  don't  speak  to  me.  Uncle 
Nicholas.  .  .  .  Ah,  this  is  it.  We  will  imagine  there  is  a 
Turk  in  Tripoli  friendly  to  Germanos.  We  will  imagine 
he  sends  a  letter  of  warning  to  Germanos.  Do  you  see  ? 
Germanos  reads  the  letter  aloud  to  the  fathers,  and  they 
send  to  Tripoli  demanding  assurance  of  their  safety,  and 
so  disperse.  Quick,  Uncle  Nicholas,  write  a  letter  from 
the  friendly  Turk  in  Tripoli  to  Germanos,  which  he  will 
read  the  fathers  on  the  journey." 

Nicholas  stared  at  Mitsos  in  sheer  astonishment  for  a 
moment. 

"Out  of  the  mouth  of  big  babes  and  sucklings!"  he 
ejaculated.  "  Oh,  Mitsos,  but  it  is  no  less  than  a  grand 
idea.     Tell  me  again." 

Mitsos  was  flushed  with  excitement. 

"  Oh,  Uncle  Nicholas,  but  it's  plainer  than  the  sun," 
he  cried.  *'  I  go  to  Patras,  and  before  now  the  summons 
for  the  primates  and  bishops  will  have  come.  I  take  to 
Germanos  your  instructions  that  they  assemble  as  if  to 
go,  and  make  a  day's  journey  or  two  days'  journey.  Then 
one  morning  there  comes  to  Germanos  a  letter  from  Trip- 
oli, from  a  Turk  to  whom  he  has  been  a  friend.  '  Do  not 
go,'  it  says,  'without  an  assurance  of  your  safety,  for  the 
Turks  are  treacherous.'  So  Germanos  sends  back  a  mes- 
senger to  Tripoli  to  ask  for  an  assurance  of  safety,  and 
meantime  they  all  disperse  again,  and  by  the  time  the 
Turks  can  bring  them  together  with   an  assurance  of 

195 


THE    VINTAGE 

safety  or  what  not,  why  the  feast,  as  my  cousin  Petrobey 
says,  will  be  ready." 

Nicholas  sat  silent  a  moment. 

"Little  Mitsos/'  he  said,  at  length,  *'but  you  are  no 
fool.     I  was  one  to  say  so." 

Mitsos  laughed. 

"Will  it  do  then?" 

"  It  is  of  the  best,"  said  Nicholas. 

The  more  Nicholas  thought  it  over,  the  more  incom- 
parable did  Mitsos'  scheme  appear.  It  was  amazingly 
simple,  and,  as  far  as  he  could  see,  without  a  flaw.  It 
seemed  to  solve  every  difficulty,  and  made  the  whole  ac- 
tion of  the  primates  as  planned  inevitable.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  them  to  go  to  Tripoli,  and  by  the  time  the 
demand  for  safety  had  reached  Mehemet  Salik,  and  been 
granted,  they  would  have  dispersed. 

The  second  piece  of  business  was  to  let  them  know  at 
the  monastery  that  their  arms  and  men  would  not  be 
needed,  as  Nicholas  had  expected,  in  the  south,  but  for  a 
simultaneous  outbreak  in  the  north  ;  and  there  was  also 
to  be  arranged  some  code  of  signals  that  could  travel  in 
an  hour  or  two  from  one  end  of  the  Peloponnesus  to 
the  other.  The  simplest  system,  that  of  beacon -fires, 
seemed  to  be  the  best,  and  was  peculiarly  well  suited  to  a 
country  like  the  Peloponnesus,  where  there  were  several 
ranges  of  mountains  which  overtopped  the  long  interven- 
ing tracts  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  were  clearly  visible 
from  one  another.  From  Taygetus  three  intermediate 
beacons  could  probably  carry  news  to  the  hills  above 
Megaspelaion,  and  two  beacons  more  to  Patras. 

There  were,  then,  two  messages  to  be  conveyed  to  Me- 
gaspelaion— the  first,  that  their  arms  would  be  required 
in  the  north,  so  that  there  was  no  need  of  their  begin- 
ning to  make  depots  of  them  southward,  as  Nicholas 

196 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GAT  H  EKING 

had  suggested  in  his  last  visit  there;  and  the  second,  to 
arrange  a  system  of  beacons  with  tbem.  It  was  not  nec- 
essary that  Mitsos  should  give  the  first  message  himself, 
as  Nicholas  had  told  them  to  be  ready  to  receive  a  mes- 
senger— man,  woman,  or  child — who  spoke  of  black  corn 
for  the  Turk,  though  it  must  be  delivered  at  once ;  but 
for  the  second  it  were  better  that  he  carried  with  him 
not  only  a  letter  from  Nicholas,  but  also  one  from 
Germanos,  with  whom  they  would  have  to  arrange  the 
beacons  between  Patras  and  the  monastery.  Also,  he 
wished  Mitsos  to  take  a  message  to  Corinth,  and  go 
from  there  to  Patras,  where  he  would  see  Germanos, 
and  thence  return  by  Megaspelaion,  not  to  Nauplia,  for 
Nicholas  would  already  have  joined  Petrobey,  but  back 
to  Panitza. 

Mitsos  nodded. 

*'But  who  will  take  the  first  message  to  Megaspe- 
laion T'  he  asked. 

Nicholas  turned  to  Constantino. 

"  Whom  do  we  know  there  ?  Stay,  did  not  one  Yanko 
Vlachos,  with  his  wife  Maria,  move  on  to  monastery 
land  a  month  or  two  ago  ?" 

'* Maria  ?"  said  Mitsos.  "Maria  is  a  very  good  wom- 
an. But  I  doubt  if  Vlachos  is  any  use.  He  is  a  wine- 
bibbing  mule." 

"  Where  does  he  live  ?"  asked  Nicholas. 

"At  Goura,  a  day's  Journey  from  Nemea.*' 

"  Goura  ?  There  are  plenty  of  good  folk  there.  You 
had  better  go  out  of  your  way  at  Nemea,  Mitsos,  spend 
the  night  with  Yanko,  and  arrange  for  the  message  being 
taken  ;  and  then  go  back  next  day  to  Nemea,  and  so  to 
Corinth,  where  you  will  take  ship.  Pay  him  horse-hire 
and  wage  for  four  days,  if  it  is  wanted.  I  will  give  you 
letters  to  Priketes  and  Germanos.     What  else  is  there  ?" 

197 


THE    VINTAGE 

''  Only  the  business  of  the  devil-ships,  of  which  I  know 
nothing ;  and  to  get  Yanni  out  of  the  kennel/' 

'^'^  The  devil -ships  can  wait  till  Panitza.  When  will 
you  be  ready  to  start  ?" 

Mitsos  thought  of  the  white  wall,  and  his  heartstrings 
throbbed  within  him. 

"I  could  go  to-morrow/'  he  said.  '^The  pony  will 
need  a  day  to  rest." 

Nicholas  rose  from  the  table  and  walked  up  and  down 
once  or  twice. 

'^  I  don't  want  Yanni  to  stop  at  the  house  of  that  Turk 
longer  than  is  necessary/'  he  said.  "It  was  a  bold  move 
and  a  clever  one  of  Petrobey's,  but  it  may  become  dan- 
gerous." 

Mitsos  said  nothing,  for  it  was  a  hard  moment.  Had 
not  the  thought  of  this  evening — the  white  wall,  the 
'dark  house  on  the  bay  with  Suleima — been  honey  in  the 
mouth  for  days  past,  and  become  ineffable  sweetness  as 
the  time  drew  nearer  ?  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  had  he 
not  sworn  to  Yanni  the  oath  of  the  clan — that  neither 
man,  woman,  nor  child  should  make  him  tarry  ?  He 
desired  definite  assurance  on  one  point. 

*' Uncle  Nicholas,"  he  said,  at  length,  "if  I  went  to- 
day would  Yanni  get  out  of  Tripoli  a  day  sooner  ?" 

Nicholas  turned  round  briskly. 

"Why,  surely,"  he  said;  "when  this  business  is  put 
through  there  is  still  but  little  more  to  do,  but  until  it 
is  all  done  Yanni  is  clapped  in  his  kennel.  The  moment 
it  is  over  he  is  out." 

Mitsos  sat  still  a  moment  longer. 

"I  will  start  to-day,"  he  said.  "It  is  only  a  short 
day's  journey  to  Nemea.  Write  your  letter,  please. 
Uncle  Nicholas,  and  then  I  will  go." 

"I  don't  know  whether  it  really  matters  if  you  go  to- 
198 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

day  or  to  -  morrow,"  said  Nicholas,  seeing  that  the  boy 
for  some  reason  wished  to  stop. 

'^  No,  no,"  broke  out  Mitsos.  ''  Yon  think  it  is  better 
for  me  to  go  to-day.  The  sooner  the  business  is  over 
the  sooner  Yanni  comes  out.     You  said  so." 

Nicholas  raised  his  eyebrows  at  this  outburst.  He  did 
not  understand  it  in  the  least. 

"  I  will  write,  then,  at  once,"  he  said.  "  It  is  true  that 
the  sooner  Yanni  comes  out  the  better." 

Mitsos  stood  with  his  back  to  him,  looking  out  of  the 
window,  and  two  great  tears  rose  in  his  eyes.  He  was 
giving  up  more  than  any  one  knew. 

Nicholas  saw  that  something  was  wrong,  but  as  Mitsos 
did  not  care  to  enlighten  him,  it  was  none  of  his  business. 
But  he  had  a  great  affection  for  the  lad,  and  as  he  passed 
he  laid  his  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  You  are  a  good  little  Mitsos,"  he  said.  "  The  letters 
will  be  ready  in  an  hour.  You  will  have  dinner  here, 
will  you  not,  and  set  out  afterwards  ?  You  cannot  go 
farther  than  Nemea  to-night." 

So  after  dinner  Mitsos  set  out  again,  and  it  seemed  to 
him  as  he  went  that  the  heart  within  him  was  being  torn 
up  as  the  weeds  in  a  vineyard  are  rooted  for  the  burning. 
And  on  this  journey  there  was  no  thought  that  he  would 
soon  come  back.  He  was  to  return,  Nicholas  told  him, 
not  to  Nauplia,  but  to  Panitza,  where  there  would  be 
work  for  him  to  do  until  the  time  came  for  him  to  get 
Yanni  out  of  Tripoli.  By  then  everything  would  be 
ready,  the  beacons  would  flare  across  the  Peloponnesus, 
and  simultaneously  in  the  north  and  at  Kalamata  the 
outbreak  would  begin.  The  reason  for  this  was  twofold. 
The  Greek  forces  were  not  yet  sufficiently  organized  to 
conduct  the  siege  of  Tripoli,  which  was  strongly  for- 
tified, well  watered,  and  heavily  garrisoned.     Kalamata, 

199 


THE    VINTAGE 

however,  was  a  more  pregnable  place,  the  water  supply 
was  bad  inside  the  citadel,  and  the  garrison  not  numer- 
ous. Again,  it  was  a  port,  and  by  getting  possession  of 
the  harbor,  which  was  not  defended,  and  separate  from 
the  citadel,  they  would  drive  those  who  escaped  inland  to 
Tripoli.  The  movements  in  the  north,  too,  would  have 
the  same  effect.  Tripoli  was  the  strongest  fortress  in 
the  Peloponnesus,  and  by  the  autumn,  when,  as  Nicholas 
hoped,  the  Greeks  would  be  sufficiently  organized  to  un- 
dertake the  siege,  it  would  be  the  only  refuge  left  for 
the  Turks  who  were  still  in  the  country.  Then  it  would 
be  that  the  great  blow  would  be  struck  which  would 
free  the  whole  Peloponnesus.  In  the  interval  the  plan 
was  as  far  as  possible  to  cut  the  country  off  from  the 
rest  of  the  world  by  a  fleet  which  was  being  organized  in 
the  islands,  and  by  means  of  the  fire-ships  which  should 
destroy  the  Turkish  vessels  seeking  to  leave  it,  and  pre- 
vent others  from  coming  into  the  ports.  For  practical 
purposes  there  were  only  four  ports — at  Corinth,  Patras, 
Nauplia,  and  Kalamata.  The  first  two  would  be  the 
care  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolution  in  the  north ;  for 
Kalamata  and  Nauplia,  Nicholas  and  Petrobey  had  ar- 
rangements in  hand. 

That  night  Mitsos  slept  at  Nemea,  and  all  next  day 
travelled  across  the  great  inland  plain  where  lie  the  lakes. 
Through  the  length  and  breadth  of  that  delectable  coun- 
try the  spirit  of  spring  was  abroad — crocuses  and  the 
early  anemones  burned  in  the  thickets,  and  the  dim 
purple  iris  cradled  bees  in  a  chalice  of  gold.  Brimming 
streams  crossed  the  path,  and  the  sunlight  lay  on  their 
pebbly  beds  in  a  diaper  of  amber  and  stencilled  shadow, 
and  Mitsos'  pony  at  the  mid-day  halt  ate  his  fill  of  the 
young,  juicy  grass.  But  in  the  lad's  heart  the  spring 
woke  no  echo  ;  he  went  heavily,  and  the  glorious  advent- 

200 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

lire  to  which  he  had  sacrificed  his  new-found  manhood, 
fully  indeed  and  without  a  murmur,  seemed  to  him  a 
thing  of  little  profit.  And  if  he  had  known  what  hard 
days  were  waiting  for  him,  and  the  blank  agonies  and 
bitterness  through  which  he  was  to  fulfil  his  destiny,  he 
would,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  turned  his  pony's  head 
round  and  said  that  an  impossible  thing  was  asked  of 
him.  But  he  knew  nothing  beyond  this  two-week  task 
now  set  him,  and  to  this  he  was  committed,  not  only  by 
his  promise  to  Nicholas— and,  to  do  him  justice,  his  own 
self-respect — but  by  the  oath  of  the  clan,  which  rather 
than  fail  in  he  would  have  sooner  died. 

The  second  evening  a  little  before  sunset  he  saw  Goura 
close  before  him,  standing  free  and  roomily  on  a  breezy 
hill -side,  and  ringed  with  vineyards.  Behind  lay  the 
great  giants  of  the  mountain  range — Helmos  cowled  in 
snow,  and  Cyllene  all  sunset  -  flushed.  Yanko's  house 
proved  to  be  at  the  top  of  the  village,  and  there  he  found 
Maria  with  a  face  all  smiles  for  his  welcoming.  Yanko 
was  still  in  the  fields,  and  Mitsos  and  Maria  talked 
themselves  up  to  date  with  each  other  till  he  came 
home. 

Oh  yes,  he  was  a  good  husband,  said  Maria,  and  he 
earned  a  fine  wage.  He  was  as  strong  as  a  horse,  and 
when  he  let  the  wine-shop  alone  he  did  the  work  of  two 
men.  "  And  I  am  strong  too,"  said  she,  "  and  when  he 
doesn't  come  home  by  ten  in  the  evening  it  will  be  no 
rare  thing  for  me  to  bring  him  back  with  a  clout  over 
the  head  for  his  foolishness.  And  why  are  you  here, 
Mitsos  ?" 

*^ Business,"  he  said;  '^ business  for  Nicholas.  It  is 
Yanko  who  can  do  it  for  us.  I  may  tell  you  about  it, 
Maria,  for  so  Nicholas  said.  He  is  wanted  to  take  a 
message  to  the  monastery.      Four  days'  horse-hire,  if  he 

201 


THE    VINTAGE 

wishes,  will  be  paid,  and  he  will  be  doing  a  good  work 
for  many." 

"  On  business  against  the  Turk  ?"  asked  Maria. 

"Surely." 

Maria  shook  her  head  doubtfully. 

'^Yanko  is  a  good  man,"  she  said,  "but  he  is  a  man 
of  the  belly.  So  long  as  there  is  food  in  plenty,  and 
plenty  of  wine,  he  does  not  care.  But  he  will  not  be 
long ;  you  shall  ask  him.  It  is  so  good  to  see  you  again, 
Mitsos.  Do  you  remember  our  treading  the  grapes  to- 
gether in  the  autumn  ?  How  you  have  grown  since 
then  !  Your  height  is  two  of  Yanko,  but  then  Yanko  is 
very  fat." 

Maria  looked  at  him  approvingly  with  her  head  on  one 
side  ;  she  distinctly  felt  a  little  sentimental.  Mitsos  re- 
minded her  of  Nauplia,  and  of  the  days  when  she  was  so 
proud  of  being  engaged  to  Yanko  while  still  only  seven- 
teen, and  of  having  Mitsos,  whom  she  had  always  thought 
wonderfully  good-looking  and  pleasant,  if  not  at  her  feet, 
at  any  rate  interested  in  her.  She  had  been  more  than 
half  disposed,  as  far  as  her  personal  inclination  had  gone, 
to  put  Yanko  off  for  a  bit  and  try  her  chance  with  the 
other ;  but  she  was  safe  with  Yanko,  and  he  did  quite 
well.  But  it  both  hurt  her  and  pleased  her  to  see  Mitsos 
again — he  was  better  looking  than  ever,  and  he  had  a 
wonderful  way  with  him,  an  air  of  breeding — Maria  did 
not  analyze  closely,  but  this  is  what  she  meant — to  which 
the  estimable  Yanko  was  quite  a  stranger.  And  this 
brave  adventure  of  his,  of  which  he  told  her  the  main 
outlines  ;  his  kinship  to,  and  rapturous  adoption  by,  the 
great  Mavromichales'  clan,  lent  him  a  new  and  powerful 
attraction.  And  when  Yankees  heavy  step  was  heard 
outside  Maria  turned  away  with  a  sigh  and  thought  he 
seemed  earlier  and  fatter  than  usual. 

202 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

Yanko,  always  sleek,  had  grown  rather  gross,  and  his 
red,  shiny  face  and  small,  boiled-looking  eyes  presented 
a  strong  contrast  to  Mitsos'  thin,  bronzed  cheeks  and 
clear  iris.  But  the  husband  seemed  glad  to  see  him, 
and  agreed  that  Mitsos'  errand  had  best  wait  till  after 
supper. 

So  after  supper  Mitsos  expounded,  and  Yanko  shifted 
from  one  foot  to  the  other,  and  seemed  uncomfortable. 
*'And,"  said  Mitsos,  in  conclusion,  ^'I  can  give  you 
horse-hire  for  four  days.'' 

Yanko  sat  silent  for  a  while,  then  abruptly  told  his 
wife  to  draw  another  jug  of  wine.  Maria  had  a  sharp 
tongue  when  her  views  were  dissentient  from  his,  and 
he  would  speak  more  easily  if  she  were  not  there.  Maria, 
who  had  listened  to  Mitsos  with  wide,  eager  eyes  and  a 
heightened  color,  went  off  quickly  and  returned  in  equal 
haste,  anxious  not  to  lose  anything. 

*^  It's  like  this,"  Yanko  was  saying.  '*  What  with  this 
and  that  I've  a  lot  of  farm  work  on  my  hands,  and,  to 
tell  the  truth,  but  little  wish  to  mix  myself  up  in  the 
affair ;  and  as  for  four  days'  horse  -  hire,  it  will  pay  my 
way,  but  where's  my  profit  ?" 

Mitsos  frow^ned. 

"  You  won't  go  ?"  he  said,  half  rising ;  "  then  I 
mustn't  wait,  but  find  some  one  else." 

At  this  Maria  burst  out : 

''  Shame,  Yanko  !"  she  said.  ''  1  have  a  mule-man  for 
a  husband.  It  is  that  you  think  of  nothing  but  piastres, 
and  are  afraid  of  taking  on  yourself  for  two  days  such 
work  as  Mitsos  spends  his  months  in.  Am  I  to  sit  here 
and  see  you  drinking  and  eating  and  sleeping,  and  never 
lift  a  hand  for  the  sake  of  any  but  yourself  ?  Ah,  if  I 
was  a  man  I  would  not  have  chosen  a  wife  with  as  little 
spirit  as  my  husband  has." 


THE    VINTAGE 

Maria  banged  the  wine-jug  down  on  the  table,  and 
cast  a  scornful  look  at  Yanko.  Then  she  crossed  over 
to  Mitsos  and  took  his  glass  to  fill  it,  filling  her  own  at 
the  same  time. 

'^This  to  you/'  she  said,  clinking  her  glass  at  his, 
^^and  to  the  health  of  all  brave  men/' 

Then  with  another  scowl  at  Yanko  : 

"  Can't  you  even  drink  to  those  who  are  made  differ- 
ent to  yourself,  if  they  are  of  a  finer  bake  ?"  she  said ; 
"  or  is  there  not  spirit  in  you  for  that  ?  I  should  have 
been  a  mile  on  the  way  by  this  time,"  she  said  to  Mitsos, 
'*  if  it  had  pleased  the  good  God  to  make  me  a  man  and 
send  you  with  such  a  message  to  me." 

''  You,  Maria  ?"  said  Mitsos,  suddenly. 

^'  Yes,  and  how  many  days  of  horse-hire  does  Yanko 
think  I  should  have  asked  for  my  pains  ?  Nay,  I  should 
have  lit  candles  to  the  Virgin  in  the  joy  of  having  such 
work  given  me  to  do,  if  I  had  had  to  beg  my  way." 

Mitsos  remembered  Nicholas's  directions. 

"  Will  you  go  ?"  he  said.  ^*  You  would  do  it  as  well 
as  any  man.  It  is  just  Father  Priketes  you  have  to  ask 
for,  and  give  the  message." 

'^Nonsense,  Maria,"  said  Yanko;  '^a  woman  can't  do 
a  thing  like  that." 

Maria's  indignant  speeches  had  a  touch  of  the  high 
rhetorical  about  them,  but  Yanko's  remark  just  stamped 
them  into  earnestness. 

^^  You'll  be  drawing  your  own  wine  for  yourself  the 
next  few  days,"  she  said,  **and  I  shall  be  over  the  hills 
doing  what  you  were  afraid  of.  I'm  blithe  to  go,"  she 
said  to  Mitsos,  ^^and  to-morrow  daybreak  will  see  me  on 
the  way." 

Yanko,  on  the  whole,  was  relieved  ;  it  would  have  been 
a  poor  thing  to  send  Mitsos  to  another  house  in  quest 

204 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

of  a  sturdier  patriot  than  he,  and  Maria's  offer  had  obvi- 
ated this  without  entailing  the  journey  on  himself.  Poor 
Yanko  had  been  born  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  and  the 
possession  of  the  earth  in  company  with  like-minded  men 
would  have  seemed  to  him  a  sufficiently  beatified  prospect. 
He  had  no  desire  for  brave  and  boisterous  adventure,  new 
experiences  held  for  him  no  ecstasy ;  even  in  the  matter 
of  drinking,  which  was  the  chief  est  pleasure  of  his  life, 
he  maintained  a  certain  formula  of  moderation,  never 
passing  beyond  the  stage  of  a  slightly  fuddled  head  ;  and 
a  wholesome  fear  of  Maria — not  acute,  but  steady — as  a 
rule,  drove  him  home  while  he  was  still  perfectly  capable 
of  getting  there.  The  rule  of  his  life  was  a  certain  sordid 
mean,  which  has  been  the  subject  for  praise  in  the  mouth 
of  poets,  who  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  call  it  golden, 
and  is  strikingly  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  cows  and 
other  ruminating  animals.  He  was  possessed  of  certain 
admirable  qualities,  a  capacity  for  hard  work  and  a  real 
affection  for  his  eminent  wife  being  among  them,  but  he 
was  surely  cast  in  no  heroic  mould.  He  had  no  fine, 
heady  virtues  which  carry  their  own  reward  in  the  con- 
stant admiration  they  excite,  but  of  the  more  inglorious 
excellences  he  had  an  average  share. 

Mitsos  arrived  at  Corinth  next  night  after  a  very  long 
day,  and  found  a  caique  starting  in  an  hour  or  two  for 
Patras.  He  had  just  time  to  leave  Nicholas's  message  to 
the  mayor  of  the  town,  get  food,  and  bargain  for  a  pas- 
sage to  Patras  for  himself  and  his  pony.  The  wind  was 
but  light  and  variable  through  the  night,  but  next  day 
brought  a  fine  singing  breeze  from  the  east,  and  about 
the  time  that  he  landed  at  Patras  Maria  saw  below  her 
from  the  top  of  a  pass  the  roof  of  the  monastery  ashine 
with  the  evening  sun  from  a  squall  of  rain  which  had 
crossed  the  hills  that  afternoon. 

205 


THE    VINTAGE 

Her  little  pinch-eared  mule  went  gayly  down  through 
the  sweet-smelling  pine  forest  which  clothed  the  upper 
slope  below  which  the  monastery  stood,  and  every  now 
and  then  she  passed  one  or  two  of  the  monks  engaged  on 
their  work — some  burning  charcoal ;  some  cleaning  out 
the  channels  which  led  from  the  snow-water  stream,  all 
milky  and  hurrying,  after  a  day  of  sun,  down  to  the 
vineyards ;  others,  with  their  cassocks  kilted  up  for 
going,  piloting  timber-laden  mules  down  home,  and  all 
gave  Maria  a  ** Good-day"  and  a  ^^Good  journey." 

Outside  the  gate  a  score  or  so  of  the  elder  men  were 
enjoying  the  last  hour  of  sunlight,  sitting  on  the  stone 
benches  by  the  fountain,  smoking  and  talking  together. 
One  of  these,  tall  and  white-bearded,  let  his  glance  rest 
on  Maria  as  she  rode  jauntily  down  the  path  ;  but  when, 
instead  of  passing  by  on  the  road,  she  turned  her  mule 
aside  up  the  terrace  in  front  of  the  gate,  he  got  up  quick- 
ly with  a  kindled  eye  and  spoke  to  the  brother  next  him. 

"Has  it  come,"  he  said,  "even  as  Nicholas  told  us  it 
might  ?"  and  he  went  to  meet  Maria. 

"  God  bless  your  journey,  my  daughter !"  he  said, 
"and  what  need  you  of  us  ?" 

Maria  glanced  round  a  little  nervously. 

"  I  want  to  speak  to  Father  Priketes,  my  father,"  she 
said. 

"You  speak  to  him." 

"  Have  you  corn,  father  ?"  she  said. 

A  curious  hush  had  fallen  on  the  others,  and  Maria's 
words  were  audible  to  them  all.  At  her  question  they 
rose  to  their  feet  and  came  a  little  nearer,  and  a  buzzing 
whisper  rose  and  died  away  again. 

"  Corn  for  the  needy  or  corn  for  the  Turk  ?"  asked 
Priketes,  while  round  there  was  a  silence  that  could  have 
been  cut  with  a  knife. 

206 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

'^  Black  corn  for  the  Turk.  Let  there  be  no  famine, 
and  have  fifteen  hundred  men  ready  to  carry  it  when  the 
signal  comes,  and  that  will  be  soon.  Not  far  will  they 
have  to  go.     It  will  be  needed  here,  at  Kalavryta." 

Maria  slipped  down  from  her  mule  and  spoke  low  to 
Priketes. 

*^And  oh,  father,  there  is  something  more,  but  I 
cannot  remember  the  words  I  was  to  use ;  but  I  know 
what  it  means,  for  Mitsos,  the  nephew  of  Nicholas,  told 
me/' 

Father  Priketes  smiled. 

^'  Say  it  then,  my  daughter.^' 

"  It  is  this  :  if  you  have  guns  stored  in  readiness  south- 
ward, get  them  back.  It  will  not  happen  just  as  Nich- 
olas expected.  You  will  want  all  your  men  and  arms 
here.'' 

"  It  is  well.     What  will  the  signal  be  ?" 

*'  I  know  not ;  but  in  a  few  days  Mitsos  will  come  from 
Patras.  Oh,  you  will  know  him  when  you  see  him — as 
tall  as  a  pillar,  and  a  face  like  a  spring  morning  or  a 
wind  on  the  hill — and  to  see  him  does  a  body  good.  He 
knows  and  will  tell  you." 

'^1  will  expect  Mitsos,  then,"  said  Priketes.  "You 
will  stay  here  to-night ;  there  shall  be  made  ready  for 
you  the  great  guest  -  room — for  you  are  an  honored 
guest — the  room  where  the  daughter  of  an  emperor  once 
lodged." 

Maria  hesitated.  ^ 

"  I  could  get  back  to  some  village  to-night,"  she  said. 
"I  ought  not  to  delay  longer  than  I  need." 

"And  shame  our  hospitality  ?"  said  Priketes.  "Be- 
sides, you  are  a  conspirator  now,  my  daughter,  and  you 
must  use  the  circumspection  of  one.  What  manner  of 
return  would  you  make  at  dead  of  night  to  where  you 

207 


THE    VINTAGE 

slept  before,  with  no  cause  to  give  ?  To-morrow  you 
shall  go  back,  and  say  how  pleased  your  novice  brother 
was  to  see  you — and  the  lie  be  laid  to  the  account  of  the 
Turk,  who  fill  our  mouths  perforce  with  these  things — 
and  how  you  had  honor  of  the  monks.  Give  your  mule 
to  the  lad,  my  daughter.     It  shall  be  well  cared  for.'' 

So  Maria  had  her  chance,  and  took  it.  An  adventure 
and  a  quest  for  the  good  of  her  country  were  offered  her, 
and  she  embraced  them.  For  the  moment  she  rose  to 
the  rank  of  those  who  work  personally  for  the  good  of 
countries  and  great  communities,  and  then  passed  back 
into  her  level  peasant  life  again.  Goura,  as  it  turned 
out,  took  no  part  in  the  deeds  that  were  coming.  Its 
land  was  land  of  the  monastery,  and  the  Turks  never 
visited  its  sequestered  valley  with  cruelty,  oppression, 
or  their  lustful  appetites.  Yet  the  great  swelling  news 
that  came  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  little  mountain 
village,  only  as  in  the  ears  of  children  a  sea-shell  speaks 
of  remotely  breaking  waves,  had  to  Maria  a  reality  and 
a  nearness  that  it  lacked  to  others,  and  her  life  was 
crowned  with  the  knowledge  that  she  had  for  a  moment 
laid  her  finger  harmoniously  on  the  harp  which  made 
that  glorious  symphony. 

Mitsos'  work  at  Patras  was  easily  done.  Germanos 
was  delighted  with  the  idea  of  the  forged  letter  from  the 
Turk,  and  was  frankly  surprised  to  hear  that  the  notion 
was  born  of  the  boy's  brain.  Being  something  of  a 
scholar,  lie  quoted  very  elegantly  the  kindred  notion  of 
Athene,  who  was  wisdom,  springing  full-grown  from  the 
brain  of  Zeus,  for  Mitsos'  idea,  so  he  was  pleased  to  say, 
was  complete  in  itself,  mature  from  its  birth.  Mitsos 
did  not  know  the  legend  to  which  the  primate  referred, 
and  so  he  merely  expressed  his  gratification  that  the 
scheme  was  considered  satisfactory.     The  ailair  of  the 

208 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

beacons  took  more  time,  for  Mitsos  on  his  journey  south 
back  to  Panitza  would  have  to  make  arrangements  for 
their  kindling,  and  it  was  thus  necessary  that  their  situ- 
ation should  be  accessible  to  villages  where  Nicholas 
was  known,  and  where  the  boy  could  find  some  one  to 
undertake  to  fire  the  beacon  as  soon  as  the  next  beacon 
south  was  kindled.  Furthermore,  though  Germanos 
knew  the  country  well,  it  would  be  best  for  Mitsos  to 
verify  the  suitability  of  the  places  chosen,  *^for,"  as  the 
archbishop  said,  "you  might  burn  down  all  the  pine- 
woods  on  Taygetus,  and  little  should  we  reck  of  it  if 
Taygetus  did  not  happen  to  be  visible  from  Lycaon  ;  but 
we  should  stand  here  like  children  with  toy  swords  till 
the  good  black  corn  grew  damp  and  the  hair  whitened 
on  our  temples." 

As  at  present  arranged,  Mitsos  would  be  back  at 
Panitza  on  the  10th  of  March,  after  which,  as  Nicholas 
had  told  him,  there  would  be  more  work  to  do  before  he 
could  go  for  Yanni  a»t  Tripoli.  It  was,  therefore,  cer- 
tain— taking  the  shortest  estimate — that  the  beacon  sig- 
nal could  not  possibly  occur  till  March  20th,  but  that 
on  that  evening  and  every  evening  after  the  signalmen 
must  be  at  their  posts  waiting  for  the  flame  to  spring 
up  on  Taygetus.  For  the  beacons  between  Patras  and 
Megaspelaion  there  would  be  no  difficulty ;  two  at  high 
points  on  the  mountains  would  send  the  message  all  the 
way,  and  the  only  doubtful  point  was  where  to  put  the 
beacon  which  should  be  intermediate  between  that  on 
Taygetus  and  that  on  Helmos,  which  latter  could  signal 
to  one  directly  above  the  monastery.  Germanos  was  in- 
clined to  think  that  a  certain  spur  of  Lycaon,  lying  off 
the  path  to  the  right,  some  four  miles  from  Andritsaena, 
and  standing  directly  above  an  old  temple,  which  would 
serve  Mitsos  as  a  guiding  point,  would  answer  the  pur- 
o  209 


THE    VINTAGE 

pose.  If  so,  it  could  be  worked  from  Andritsaena,  and 
the  priest  there,  at  whose  house  Mitsos  would  find  a 
warm  welcome  if  he  stayed  for  the  night,  would  certainly 
undertake  it. 

Mitsos  went  off  again  the  next  day,  with  the  solemn 
blessing  of  the  archbishop  in  his  ears  and  the  touch  of 
kindly  hands  in  his,  and  reached  Megaspelaion  in  two 
days.  Here  he  had  news  of  Marians  safe  arrival.  "And 
a  brave  lass  she  is,"  said  Father  Priketes.  The  business 
of  the  beacons  was  soon  explained,  and  next  morning 
Father  Priketes  himself  accompanied  Mitsos  on  his  jour- 
ney to  the  top  of  the  pass  above  the  monastery,  in  order 
to  satisfy  himself  that  from  there  both  the  points  fixed 
upon — that  on  the  spur  of  Helmos,  and  also  that  towards 
Patras — were  visible. 

Their  way  lay  through  the  pine-woods  where  Maria  had 
come  three  days  before,  and  a  hundred  little  streams  ran 
bubbling  down  through  the  glens,  and  the  thick  lush 
grass  of  the  spring-time  was  starred  with  primroses  and 
sweet-smelling  violets.  Above  that  lay  an  upland  val- 
ley, all  in  cultivation,  and  beyond  a  large,  bleak  plateau 
of  rock,  on  the  top  of  which  the  beacon  was  to  burn. 
Another  half -bourn's  climb  saw  them  there,  a  strange, 
unfriendly  place,  with  long  parallel  strata  of  gray  rock, 
tipped  by  some  primeval  convulsion  onto  their  side,  and 
lying  like  a  row  of  razors.  In  the  hollows  of  the  rocks 
the  snow  was  still  lying,  but  the  place  was  alive  with 
the  whisper  of  new-born  streams.  A  few  pine-trees  only 
were  scattered  over  these  gaunt  surfaces,  but  in  the 
shelter  of  them  sprang  scarlet  wind-flowers  and  hare- 
bells, which  shivered  on  their  springlike  stalks. 

A  few  minutes^  inspection  was  enough  to  show  that 
the  place  was  well  chosen — to  the  south  rose  the  great 
mass  of  Helmos,  and  they  could  clearly  see  a  sugarcone 

210 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

rock,  the  proposed  beacon  site,  standing  rather  apart 
from  the  main  mountain,  some  fifteen  miles  to  the 
south,  just  below  which  lay  the  village  of  Leondari, 
whither  Mitsos  was  bound,  and  towards  Patras  the  con- 
torted crag  above  Mavromati.  Here,  so  Priketes  prom- 
ised, should  a  well -trusted  monk  watch  every  evening 
from  March  20th  onward,  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  the 
blaze  on  Helmos,  he  would  light  his  own  beacon,  waiting 
only  to  see  it  echoed  above  Mavromati,  and  go  straight 
back  with  the  news  to  the  monastery.  And  the  Turks 
at  Kalavryta,  so  said  Priketes — for  it  was  on  Kalavryta 
that  the  first  blow  was  to  descend — should  have  cause  to 
remember  the  vengeance  of  the  sword  of  God  which  His 
sons  should  wield. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   VISION   AT   BASSAE 

From  the  village  of  Leondari,  held  in  a  half-circle  of 
the  foothills  of  Helmos,  where  was  to  be  the  second  link 
in  the  chain  of  beacons,  it  was  impossible  to  see  Andrit- 
saena ;  but  the  mass  of  Mount  Lycaon  stood  up  fine  and 
clear  behind  where  Andritsaena  was,  and  a  series  of 
smaller  peaks  a  little  to  the  west  would  prove,  so  Mitsos 
hoped,  to  be  the  hills  above  the  temple.  He  and  his 
host  climbed  the  beacon-hill  and  took  very  sedulous  note 
of  these,  and  next  morning  the  lad  set  off  at  daybreak 
to  Andritsaena,  which  he  reached  in  a  day  and  a  half. 
The  country  through  which  he  travelled,  an  unkind  and 
naked  tract,  was  not  suspected  by  the  Turks  to  be  tinged 
with  any  disaffection  to  their  benignant  rule,  and  his 
going  was  made  without  difficulty  or  accident.  He  found 
welcome  at  the  house  of  the  priest  to  whom  Germanos 
had  given  him  a  letter,  and  after  dinner  the  two  rode 
off,  on  a  fair,  cloudless  afternoon,  to  the  hills  above  the 
temple,  to  verify  its  visibility  from  Taygetus  on  the 
south  and  the  crag  of  Helmos  on  the  north.  An  Eng- 
lishman, whom  the  priest  described  as  a  "tall  man  cov- 
ered with  straps  and  machines,"  had  been  there  a  year 
or  two  before  making  wonderful  drawings  of  the  place, 
and  had  told  them  it  was  a  temple  to  Apollo,  and  that 
the  ancient  Greek  name  for  it  was  Bassae.  *' Yet  I  like 
not  the  place, ''^  said  Father  Zervas. 

213 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

An  hour  or  so  after  their  departure,  fleecy  clouds  be- 
gan to  spin  themselves  in  the  sky,  and  as  they  went  higher 
they  found  themselves  involved  in  the  folds  of  a  white 
fabric  of  mist,  which  lay  as  thick  as  a  blanket  over  the 
hill -side,  and  through  which  the  sun  seemed  to  hang 
white  and  unlnminous,  like  a  china  plate.  This  promised 
but  ill  for  the  profit  of  their  ride,  but  Zervas  said  it  was 
worth  while  to  push  on ;  those  mists  would  be  scattered 
in  a  moment  if  the  wind  got  up ;  he  had  seen  them  roll 
away  as  the  housewife  rolls  up  the  bed -linen.  But  as 
they  got  higher  the  mist  seemed  to  thicken,  and  the  sun 
was  expunged,  and  when,  by  the  priest's  computation, 
they  must  be  near  the  temple,  they  could  scarcely  see 
ten  yards  before  them,  and  the  gaunt,  contorted  oak- 
trees  marched  swiftly  into  their  narrow  field  of  vision, 
and  out  again,  like  ghosts  in  torment.  Shoulder  after 
shoulder  of  gray  hill -side  sank  beneath  them,  dripping 
with  the  cold,  thick  mist,  and  unutterably  waste,  when, 
after  moving  ten  minutes  or  more  across  a  featureless 
flank  of  hill,  gigantic  shadows  peered  at  them  from  in 
front,  a  great  range  of  columns  faced  them,  and  they 
were  there. 

Mitsos'  pony,  tired  with  the  four  days'  journey,  was 
lagging  behind,  and  Mitsos  had  got  off  to  relieve  it  on 
the  steeper  part  of  the  ascent,  when  suddenly  there  came 
from  out  of  the  chill,  blank  fog  a  scream  like  that  of  a 
lost  soul.  For  one  moment  a  superstitious  fear  clutched 
at  the  boy,  and  his  pony,  startled,  went  off  at  a  nimbler 
pace  to  join  the  other,  and  Mistos  had  to  break  into  a 
run  to  keep  up.  Then  suddenly  the  sun  stared  whitely 
through  the  mists,  and  in  five  seconds  more  the  Avind, 
which  had  screamed  so  shrilly,  was  upon  them.  In  a 
moment  the  hill-side  was  covered  with  flying  wreaths  of 
vapor,  which  the  wind  tore  smaller  and  smaller  till  there 

213 


THE    VINTAGE 

was  nothing  left  of  them  ;  it  ripped  off  ribbons  from  the 
skirts  of  the  larger  clouds,  which  it  drove  like  herded 
sheep  down  the  valleys,  and  as  Mitsos  gained  the  ridge 
where  the  temple  stood,  a  brilliant  sun  sat  in  cloudless 
blue,  looking  down  upon  the  great  gray  columns.  At 
their  feet  in  every  direction  new  valleys,  a  moment  be- 
fore muffled  in  mist,  were  being  carved  out  among,  the 
hill-sides,  and  already  far  to  the  south  the  plain  of  Kala- 
mata,  rimmed  with  a  dim,  dark  sea,  sparkled  green 
through  thirty  miles  of  crisp  air.  Down  in  the  valley 
through  which  they  had  come  some  conflicting  current 
of  air  tilted  the  mist  up  in  at  all  column  of  whirling  va- 
por, as  if  from  some  great  stewing  -  pot  below,  and  as  it 
streamed  up  into  the  higher  air  it  melted  and  dissolved 
away,  and  in  five  minutes  the  whole  land — north,  south, 
east,  and  west — was  naked  to  the  incomparable  blue. 

Mitsos  gazed  in  wonder  at  the  gray  columns,  which 
seemed  more  to  have  grown  out  of  the  hill  than  to  have 
been  built  by  the  hands  of  men;  but  the  priest  hurried 
him  on. 

"  It  is  as  I  hoped,"  said  he ;  ^'  the  wind  has  driven  the 
clouds  off  ;  but  they  may  come  back.  We  must  go  quick- 
ly to  the  top  of  the  hill." 

The  lad  left  his  pony  grazing  by  the  columns  and  ran 
up  the  brow  of  the  hill  some  two  hundred  feet  above  the 
end  of  the  temple.  Northward  Ilelmos  lifted  a  snowy 
finger  into  the  sky,  and  clean  as  a  cameo  on  its  south- 
eastern face  stood  the  cone  above  Leondari,  as  if  when 
the  hills  were  set  upon  the  earth  by  the  stir  of  the  forces 
of  its  morning  it  had  been  placed  there  for  their  purpose. 
Then  looking  southward  they  saw  Taygetus  rise  shoulder 
above  shoulder  into  the  blue,  offering  a  dozen  vantage 
points.     But  Father  Zervas  was  a  cautious  man. 

*^It  seems  clear  enough,  Mitsos,"  he  said ;  '^but  Tay- 
214 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

getus  is  a  big  place.  This  will  I  do  for  greater  safety. 
You  go  straight  south,  you  say,  and  will  be  at  Kalamata 
two  evenings  from  now,  and  on  the  third  night  you  will 
sleep  at  some  village  on  the  pass  crossing  Taygetus  over 
to  Sparta.  On  that  night  directly  after  sundown  I  will 
kindle  a  beacon  here,  and  keep  it  kindled  for  two  hours, 
and  in  that  time  you  will  be  able  to  choose  a  well-seen 
place  for  the  blaze  on  Taygetus.  Look,  it  is  even  as  I 
said,  the  mists  gather  again  ;  but  the  winds  of  God  have 
favored  us,  and  our  work  is  done." 

Even  as  he  spoke  a  long  tongue  of  mist  shot  up  from 
the  valley  below,  and  came  licking  up  the  hill  like  the 
spent  water  of  a  wave  on  a  level  beach,  and  Mitsos  ran 
down  quickly  in  order  to  find  his  pony  in  case  it  had 
strayed  even  thirty  or  forty  yards,  before  the  clouds 
swallowed  them  up  again.  But  he  found  it  where  he 
had  left  it,  browsing  contentedly  on  the  spicy  tufts  of 
thyme  and  sweet  mountain  grass,  and  for  a  couple  of 
minutes  more,  before  the  earth  and  sky  were  blotted 
out,  he  stared  amazedly  at  the  tall  gray  ruins  which 
stood  there  crowning  the  silence  and  strength  of  the 
hills,  still  unknown  to  all  but  a  few  travellers  and  to  the 
shepherds  that  fed  their  flocks  in  summer  on  the  hill- 
tops—a memorial  of  the  life  and  death  of  the  worship 
of  beauty,  and  the  god  of  sunlight  and  health  and  im- 
perishable youth. 

He  waited  there  till  the  priest  joined  him,  and  was 
surprised  to  see  him  cross  himself  as  he  passed  by  the 
door  into  the  temple,  and  asked  why  he  did  so. 

"It  is  a  story  of  a  devil,"  he  said,  "which  folks  tell 
about  here.  Whether  I  believe  it  or  no,  I  know  not,  and 
so  I  am  careful.  We  will  make  haste  down  this  valley, 
for  it  is  not  good  to  be  here  after  night." 

The  mists  had  risen  again  over  the  whole  hill-side,  but 

215 


THE    VINTAGE 

not  thickly,  and  as  they  turned  to  go  Mitsos  looking 
back  saw  a  strange  shaft  of  light  streaming  directly  out 
of  the  ruined  door  of  the  temple — the  eifect,  no  doubt, 
of  the  sun,  which  was  near  its  setting,  striking  through 
some  thin  layer  of  cloud. 

"Look,"  he  said  to  the  priest,  *'one  might  almost 
think  the  temple  was  lit  from  within." 

Father  Zervas  looked  round,  and  when  he  saw  it  drop- 
ped lamentably  off  his  horse  and  onto  his  knees  on  the 
ground,  and  began  muttering  prayers,  crossing  himself 
the  while. 

Mitsos  looked  at  him  in  surprise,  and  saw  that  his  face 
was  deadly  pale,  and  a  strangling  anguish  gripped  at  the 
muscles  of  his  throat.  The  light  cast  through  the  tem- 
ple door  meantime  had  been  choked  by  the  gathering 
mists,  and  when  Father  Zervas  looked  up  from  his  pray- 
ers it  was  gone. 

"Quick,  quick  I"  he  cried  to  Mitsos;  "it  is  not  good 
to  be  here,"  and  mounting  on  his  pony  he  fairly  clattered 
down  the  hill-side,  and  did  not  draw  bridle  till  they  liad 
reached  the  main  road  from  Andritsaena. 

Mitsos  followed,  half  amused,  but  conscious  of  a  lurk- 
ing fear  in  his  mind,  a  fear  bred  by  the  memory  of  the 
winter  evenings  of  his  childhood  when  he  used  to  hear 
strange  stories  of  shapes  larger  than  human,  which  had 
been  seen  floating  like  leaves  in  the  wind  round  the  old 
temples  on  the  Acropolis,  and  cries  that  came  from  the 
hills  of  iEgina,  where  stood  the  house  of  the  god,  but 
no  human  habitation,  at  the  sound  of  which  the  villagers 
in  the  hamlets  below  would  bolt  their  doors  and  crouch 
fearfully  round  the  fire,  "making  the  house  good,"  as 
they  said,  by  the  reiterated  sign  of  the  cross.  Then  as 
he  grew  older  his  familiarity  with  morning  and  evening 
and  night  in  lonely  places  had  caused  these  stories  to  be 

216 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

half  forgotten,  or  remembered  only  as  he  remembered 
the  other  terrors  and  pains  of  childhood — the  general 
distrust  of  the  dark,  and  the  storms  that  came  swooping 
down  from  the  gaunt  hills  above  Nauplia.  But  now 
when  he  saw  the  flying  skirts  of  Father  Zervas  waving 
dimly  from  the  mist  in  front,  and  heard  the  hurried  clat- 
ter of  his  pony's  feet,  he  followed  at  a  good  speed,  and 
in  some  confusion  of  mind.  Zervas  had  stopped  on  reach- 
ing the  high-road,  and  here  Mitsos  caught  him  up. 

**  Ah,  ah  V  he  gasped,  **but  it  is  a  sore  trial  the  Lord 
has  sent  me,  for  I  am  no  braver  than  a  hare  when  it 
comes  to  dealings  with  that  which  is  no  human  thing. 
It  is  even  as  Demetri  said,  for  the  evil  one  is  there,  the 
one  whom  he  saw  under  the  form  of  a  young  man,  very 
fair  to  look  upon,  but  evil  altogether,  a  son  of  the  devil." 

And  he  wiped  a  dew  of  horror  from  his  brow. 

Mitsos  must  have  felt  disposed  to  laugh  had  not  the 
man's  terror  been  so  real. 

"But  what  did  you  see,  father?"  he  asked.  "For 
me  I  saw  naught  but  a  light  shining  through  the  door." 

"That  was  it,  that  was  it,"  s^id  Zervas,  "and  I — I 
have  promised  Germanos  to  see  to  the  beacon  business, 
and  on  that  hill  shall  I  have  to  watch  while  perhaps  the 
young  man,  evil  and  fair,  watches  for  me  below.  I  can- 
not pass  this  way,  for  my  heart  is  cold  water  at  the 
thought.  I  shall  have  to  climb  up  from  the  other  valley, 
so  that  I  pass  not  the  place  ;  and  then,  perhaps,  with  the 
holy  cross  on  my  breast  and  the  image  of  the  Crucified 
in  my  hand,  I  shall  go  unhurt." 

"But  what  was  it  Demetri  saw  ?"  asked  Mitsos. 

"  It  was  this  way,"  said  Father  Zervas,  who  was  grow- 
ing a  little  more  collected  as  they  attained  a  greater  dis- 
tance from  the  temple.  "  One  evening,  a  spring  even- 
ing, as  it  might  be  to-day,  Demetri,  of  our  village,  whom 

217 


THE    VINTAGE 

I  know,  was  driving  his  slieep  down  from  the  hill  above 
the  temple,  where  the  beacon  will  be ;  and,  being  later 
than  he  knew,  the  sun  had  set  ere  he  came  down  to 
where  the  temple  stands  ;  therefore,  as  he  could  not  herd 
the  sheep  in  the  dark  down  the  glen,  he  bethought  him- 
self to  encamp  there,  for  the  night  was  warm  and  he  had 
food  enough  with  him  and  wine  for  two  men.  Inside, 
the  temple  is  of  two  rooms,  and  into  the  hindermost  of 
these  he  penned  the  sheep,  and  in  the  other  he  lit  a 
sparkle  of  fire  and  sat  himself  down  to  eat  his  supper. 
And  having  finished  his  supper  he  lay  down  to  sleep, 
but  no  wink  of  sleep  came  near  him,  and  feeling  restless, 
he  sat  up  and  smoked  awhile.  But  his  unrest  gained  on 
him,  twitching  at  his  limbs  and  bidding  him  go ;  so  out 
he  fared  on  the  hill-side  to  see  if  he  could  find  sleep 
there — or,  at  any  rate,  get  air — for  it  seemed  to  him  that 
the  temple  had  grown  unseasonably  warm,  and  that  it 
was  filled  with  some  sweet  and  subtle  perfume.  Outside 
it  was  cooler,  and  so,  laying  himself  in  a  hollow  of  the 
hill  opposite  the  temple  gate,  he  nestled  down  among  the 
grasses  and  again  tried  to  sleep. 

''  But  it  seemed  to  him  that  from  below  there  came  dim 
songs  such  as  men  sing  on  feast-days,  and  looking  down 
to  see  whence  such  voices  came,  he  saw,  even  as  you 
saw  and  I,  a  strong  great  light  shining  out  of  the  temple 
door,  and  next  moment  came  a  clattering  and  pattering 
of  feet,  and' out  through  the  door  rushed  his  sheep, 
which  must  have  leaped  the  barrier  of  boughs  he  had  put 
up,  and  ran,  scattering,  dumb,  and  frightened,  in  all  di- 
rections. He  got  up  and  hurried  down  to  stop  any  that 
were  left,  for  as  for  herding  those  that  were  gone  he 
might  as  well  have  tried  to  herd  the  moon-beams,  for  the 
night  was  -dark  but  for  the  space  illuminated  by  that 
great  light  that  shone  out  from  the  temple.    So  down  he 

318 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

ran,  but  at  the  temple  door  he  stopped,  for  in  the  centre 
of  the  great  chamber  stood  one  whom  it  dazzled  his  eyes 
to  look  upon.  Fair  was  he  and  young,  and  lithe  as  a 
deer  on  the  mountains,  and  from  his  face  there  shone  a 
beauty  and  a  glory  which  belong  not  to  mortal  man  ; 
and  the  lines  of  his  body  were  soft  with  the  graciousness 
of  youth,  but  firm  with  the  strength  of  a  man.  Over 
one  shoulder  was  slung  a  quiver  of  gold,  and  his  left 
hand  held  a  golden  bow;  golden  sandals  were  on  his  feet, 
and  on  his  head  a  wreath  of  wild  laurel.  For  the  rest, 
he  was  as  naked  as  the  night  of  full  moon  in  May,  and 
as  glorious.  Two  fingers  of  the  hand  which  held  the 
bow  were  rested  on  the  head  of  one  of  Demetri's  rams, 
the  father  of  the  fiock,  and  the  beast  stood  there  quiet 
and  not  afraid.  No  other  light  was  there  in  the  temple, 
but  all  the  splendor  which  turned  the  place  to  a  summer 
noonday  sprang  from  him.  Only  in  front  of  the  youth 
still  smouldered  the  fire  by  which  Demetri  had  eaten  his 
supper,  and  that  seemed  in  the  blaze  that  filled  the  tem- 
ple to  have  burned  low  and  dim,  like  a  candle  in  the 
sunlight,  and  a  little  blue  smoke  from  it  came  towards 
him,  full  of  some  wonderful  sweet  perfume.  The  sheep, 
frightened,  had  collected  again  round  him,  and  in  that 
light  he  could  see  to  right  and  left  score  upon  score  of 
their  white  heads  and  twitching  ears  ;  they  stood  close 
to  him  and  huddled,  yet  all  looked  at  that  immortal 
thing  within  the  temple.  And  as  he  stood  there,  stricken 
to  stone,  marvelling  at  the  beauty  of  the  youth,  and  for- 
getting in  his  wonder  to  be  afraid,  the  god — yet  no  god 
was  he,  but  only  evil,"  said  Zervas,  hastily,  again  cross- 
ing himself — '^  raised  his  eyes  to  him  and  said  : 

"  '  Thou  that  makest  a  sheep-pen  of  my  sanctuary,  art 
thou  not  afraid  to  do  this  thing  T 

"  But  he  spoke,  so  said  Demetri,  not  harshly,  and  in 

219 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  lustre  of  his  eyes  there  was  something  so  matchless 
and  beyond  compare  that  he  knelt  down  and  said : 

"  '  Forgive  me,  Lord,  for  I  knew  not  that  it  was  thine/ 

*^  Then  said  the  other : 

'^ '  For  penalty  and  yet  for  thine  honor  this  ram  is 
mine/  and  he  struck  the  beast  lightly  on  the  head,  at 
which  it  sank  down  and  moved  no  more.  Then  said  the 
god  again : 

"  '  It  is  long  since  I  have  looked  on  your  race ;  not  so 
fair  are  they  now  as  they  were  in  the  olden  days' — and  in 
truth  Demetri  is  an  ugly  loon — ^but  this  shalt  thou  learn 
of  me,  how  Joy  is  better  than  self-sacrifice,  and  beauty 
than  wisdom  or  the  fear  of  God.  Look  at  me  only,  the 
proof  is  here/ 

"  And  at  this  he  held  out  his  hand  to  him,  but  Deme- 
tri was  suddenly  smitten  by  the  knowledge  that  this 
beautiful  youth  was  more  evil  than  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
and  in  wild  despair  he  bethought  himself  of  his  only 
safety,  and  made  in  the  air,  though  feebly,  for  his  heart 
was  nigh  surrendered,  the  sign  of  the  cross.  With  that 
a  shuddering  blackness  came  over  his  spirit  and  his  eyes, 
and  when  he  came  to  himself  he  was  lying  on  the  dew- 
drenched  pavement  of  the  temple,  and  close  to  him  the 
ram,  dead,  but  with  no  violent  mark  upon  him ;  and  look- 
ing in  at  the  temple  door,  but  coming  not  in,  the  rest  of 
the  flock,  of  which  none  was  missing ;  and  morning  was 
red  in  the  east.  That  is  ten  years  ago,  but  Demetri  will 
scarce  speak  of  it  even  to-day,  and  I  had  half  thought  be- 
fore that  it  was  an  idle  tale;  but  when  I  saw  the  light 
shining  out  through  the  temple  door  an  hour  ago,  it  was 
freshly  borne  to  me  that  it  was  true,  albeit  one  of  the 
dark  things  of  the  world  at  which  we  cannot  even  guess. 
Yet,  as  Christ  protected  Demetri,  He  will  surely  pro- 
tect me  when  I  go  on  the  beacon  work,  for  it  is  His 

220 


THE    EVE  'OF    THE    GATHERING 

work ;  but  lest  I  tempt  God,  I  will  climb  up  that  hill  on 
the  other  side  and  keep  my  eyes  away  from  the  temple, 
and  plant  the  holy  cross  between  me  and  it." 

Mitsos  knew  not  what  to  make  of  all  this.  The  fact 
that  Demetri  had,  in  Zervas's  phrase,  wine  for  two  men 
with  him  might  have  explained  the  significance  of  what 
he  had  seen ;  but,  being  a  Greek,  his  mind  was  fruitful 
soil  for  all  things  ghostly  and  superstitious. 

"It  is  very  strange,"  he  said;  *^yet,  father,  you  will 
not  go  back  from  the  work  ?" 

"I  will  do  it  faithfully," said  Zervas,  "for  thus  I  shall 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord." 


CHAPTER  VI 
THREE   LITTLE   MEK   FALL   OFF  THEIR   HORSES 

It  was  the  middle  of  March  when  Mitsos  again  found 
himself  climbing  the  steep  hill-side  into  Panitza.  Night 
had  fallen  two  hours  before ;  clear  and  keen  was  the  sky, 
and  keen  the  vigor  of  the  mountain  air.  The  crescent 
moon,  early  setting,  had  slipped  behind  the  snowy  spear- 
head of  Taygetus,  but  the  heaven  was  all  aglow  with 
stars  burning  frostily.  His  work  had  all  been  done 
quickly  and  well,  and  after  he  had  seen  the  beacon  at 
Bassae,  three  nights  before,  shine  like  a  glowworm  to 
the  north,  and  then  shoot  out  a  little  tongue  of  flame 
and  lick  a  low-lying  star,  he  had  travelled  night  and  day, 
only  giving  himself  a  minimum  of  sleep,  and  walking  as 
much  as  he  rode  to  spare  the  pony,  that  seemed,  as  they 
came  into  Panitza  with  Mitsos  only  resting  a  hand  on  its 
neck,  to  be  the  more  weary  of  the  two.  He  went  up  the 
village  street  to  Petrobey's  house,  but  found  the  door  into 
the  court-yard  closed,  and  only  Osman  at  first  answered 
his  knocking  by  furious  barking. 

*' Osman,  oh,  Osman,^' called  Mitsos,  '^be  quiet,  boy, 
and  let  them  hear  within." 

Osman  recognized  his  voice  and  whined  impatiently 
while  Mitsos  knocked  again.  At  last  he  heard  the  house 
door  open,  and  Petrobey's  voice  calling  out : 

^^ Who  is  there?" 

*'It  is  I,  cousin,"  shouted  the  boy  ;  *'  it  is  Mitsos." 
223 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

Petrobey  ran  across  the  court-yard,  and  the  next  mo- 
ment Osman  tumbled  out  to  welcome  Mitsos  of  the  clan, 
and  he  led  the  pony  in. 

'^  Ah,  it  is  good  to  see  you,  little  Mitsos,^'  said  Petro- 
bey. ^*You  have  come  very  quick ;  we  did  not  expect 
you  till  to-morrow.^' 

'^^Yes,  I  have  come  quick,''  said  Mitsos;  ''and,  oh, 
cousin,  do  not  talk  to  me  before  I  have  eaten,  for  I  am 
hungrier  than  the  hares  in  winter,  and  the  pony  is  weak- 
er than  I  for  weariness." 

''Give  him  me,''  said  Petrobey,  "and  go  inside  ;  you 
will  find  supper  ready,  and  Nicholas  is  here." 

"  Nay,  it  is  not  fitting  that  you  should  look  to  the 
pony,"  said  Mitsos. 

"Little  Mitsos,  get  you  in,"  said  Petrobey;  "there  are 
woodcocks  for  supper  and  a  haunch  of  roe -deer,  but 
Nicholas  and  I  have  eaten  all  the  eels";  and  he  led  the 
pony  off,  for  he  had  heard  from  Nicholas  of  Mitsos'  oath 
to  Yanni,  and  how,  though  for  a  reason  Nicholas  did  not 
understand,  Mitsos  had  been  very  loath  to  leave  Nauplia, 
but  had  gone  at  once  ;  and  with  that  fine  instinct,  so  un- 
reasonable and  yet  so  beautiful,  to  wait  on  those  a  man 
admires,  he  wished  to  do  this  little  service  for  the  boy. 
Nicholas  and  he  had  talked  the  matter  over,  and  Petro- 
bey said  it  was  clear  that  Mitsos  was  in  love,  and  Nicho- 
las was  inclined  to  agree,  though  as  to  the  engager  of  his 
affections  they  could  risk  no  guess. 

Mitsos  ate  a  prodigious  supper,  and  Nicholas  having 
given  him  a  handful  of  tobacco  for  his  pipe,  he  declared 
himself  capable  of  talking,  and  put  forth  to  them  a  full 
account  of  his  journey,  and  in  turn  asked  what  news. 

"  Much  news,"  said  Petrobey,  "  a  little  bad  and  a  great 
deal  good.  The  bad  comes  first,  and  it  is  this  :  Nicho- 
las is  afraid  that  it  Avill  soon  be  known  at  Tripoli  that  he 

333 


THE    VINTAGE 

is  here,  and  that  will  be  an  unseasonable  thing.  Four 
days  ago  he  met  two  Turkish  soldiers,  and  he  thinks  they 
recognized  him.  They  were  going  to  Tripoli,  and  it  will 
not  suit  me  at  all  if  they  send  again  to  ask  me  to 
find  him,  for  we  have  other  work  to  do,  and  already  the 
clan  is  moving  up  into  the  mountains  so  as  to  be  ready 
for  the  work,  and  to  send  twenty  men  again  after  Nicho- 
las is  what  I  will  not  do." 

"  That  is  but  a  small  thing,  cousin,"  said  Nicholas ; 
'*  but  it  is  the  thought  of  Yanni  in  Tripoli  which  sits 
heavy  on  me.  At  present,  of  course,  he  is  perfectly  safe, 
but  supposing  a  message  comes  that  you  and  I  are  ordered 
to  be  at  Tripoli  in  three  days." 

Petrobey  laughed. 

"  Mehemet  Salik  dare  not,"  he  said ;  "  absolutely  he 
dare  not.  How  fat  little  Yanni  will  be  when  he  comes 
out.  Turks  eat  five  times  a  day.  They  have  no  cause 
to  suspect  me,  and  if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,  he 
can  but  send  out  men  to  search  for  you." 

Mitsos  yawned. 

*'  Yet  I  wish  Yanni  were  here,"  he  said,  "  for  I  love 
Yanni,  and  I  have  sworn  to  him  the  oath  of  the  clan. 
But  I  am  sleepier  than  the  wintering  dormouse.  When 
do  you  suppose  I  may  go  for  him,  cousin  ?" 

*'  In  a  week  or  less,  I  hope,  and  in  the  interval  there 
is  the  fire-ship  work  for  you  to  learn.  Of  that  to-mor- 
row, so  get  you  to  bed,  little  Mitsos." 

Mitsos  got  up  with  eyes  full  of  sleep  and  stretched 
himself. 

''A  bed  with  sheets,"  he  said;  "oh,  but  I  thank  the 
Mother  of  God  for  beds." 

*'Also  for  woodcock  and  roe-deer,"  remarked  Petrobey. 
*'  Good-night,  little  one." 

The  next  two  days  Mitsos  spent  in  learning  the  work- 
224 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

ing  of  the  fire  -  ship.  Every  morning  before  daybreak 
Nicholas  used  to  leave  the  village  and  lie  hidden  in  the 
pine-woods  on  the  hills  above,  returning  with  Mitsos  at 
nightfall.  But  on  the  second  evening,  as  they  got  near 
the  house,  they  saw  a  Turkish  soldier  in  the  road,  him- 
self on  horseback  and  holding  two  other  horses. 
Nicholas  stepped  quickly  out  of  the  moonlight  into  the 
shadow,  and  beckoned  to  Mitsos  to  do  the  same. 

**This  means  trouble,''  he  said  ;  "I  knew  it,  I  knew  it. 
Go  you  in,  Mitsos,  and  I  will  wait  in  the  alder  clump  by 
the  mill,  going  out  of  the  village,  for  there  will  be  news 
for  you  to  bring  me.'' 

And  he  stole  along  in  the  shadow  of  the  wall  until  he 
was  out  of  sight. 

Mitsos  waited  till  he  was  gone,  and  then  walked  un- 
concernedly forward,  whistling  the  while.  At  the  gate 
the  soldier  stopped  him. 

''Yassak,"he  said,  which  means  *^There  is  no  passing." 

Mitsos  stared  and  stood  silent  a  moment,  running  over 
in  his  mind  his  small  vocabulary  of  Turkish  abuse. 

"Ugh  !  cross-legged  one,  where  is  your  hat?" he  said, 
rudely  and  cheerfully.  "  But  why  should  I  not  see  my 
cousin  ?" 

*'  There  is  no  passing,"  said  the  Turk,  and  with  that 
he  drew  out  his  pistol. 

Mitsos  hesitated  a  moment.  He  was  quite  willing  to 
rush  in  and  take  his  chance  of  the  bullet  going  wide,  for 
he  held  the  Turks  in  light  esteem  as  marksmen  since  the 
adventure  with  Yanni  ;  but  he  doubted  the  wisdom  of 
the  scheme,  for  there  were,  as  the  horses  showed,  at  least 
two  more  inside.     So  he  turned  on  his  heel. 

"  I  shall  go  back  home,  then,"  he  said.     ''  Shall  I  find 
more  little  men  there  saying  I  may  not  see  my  father  ? 
Go  home,  too,  my  little  man,  if  you  are  as  wise  as  you 
p  325 


THE    VINTAGE 

are  little,  and  eat  sweets  with  the  women  of  your  mas- 
ter's harem,  and  wash  your  dirty  face/' 

The  man  answered  nothing,  for  he  knew  well  that  to 
fire  a  shot  in  a  village  of  the  Mavromichales  was  to  put 
his  own  head  into  a  nest  of  hornets  that  could  sting  sore. 
He  and  the  others  had  entered  the  village  very  quietly 
after  dark  so  as  not  to  provoke  any  attention,  and  had 
bejen  fortunate  enough  to  get  to  Petrobey's  house  with- 
out being  noticed.  Mitsos  went  along  quietly  enough 
till  he  was  out  of  sight,  and  then  ran  as  he  had  never  run 
before  to  the  alder  clump  where  he  would  find  Nicholas. 

"Quick,  quick  r'  he  whispered;  -'tell  me  what  to  do. 
There  are  Turkish  soldiers  at  Petrobey's,  and  they  will 
not  let  me  in.  Oh,  uncle,  this  bodes  no  good  for  Yanni ! 
What  shall  I  do  ?" 

'•Ah,  it  is  even  so  V  said  Nicholas.  "  Sit  you,  Mitsos, 
and  let  us  think." 

For  five  minutes  or  so  they  sat  quite  silent.  At  last 
Nicholas  spoke. 

'^I  make  no  doubt  what  has  happened,"  he  said,  *'and 
it  is  all  bad.  These  men  have  come  to  Petrobey  from 
Mehemet  Salik,  and  it  means  his  arrest.  They  have  him 
in  the  hollow  of  their  hand,  for  if  he  goes  not  there  is 
Yanni  in  Tripoli,  and  go  he  must.  AVhat  is  before  us 
is  this  :  Yanni  must  be  got  out  of  Tripoli  at  once,  and 
Petrobey  must  escape  on  his  way  there.  How  shall  we 
do  it  ?  Oh,  little  Mitsos,  think  as  you  thought  before, 
and  ask  the  blessed  saints  to  speak  to  you  and  me." 

Nicholas  crushed  his  hands  to  his  temples. 

"And  that  is  not  all,"  he  added.  "  The  clan  must  be 
warned  at  once  what  has  happened,  and  it  is  useless  for 
them  to  attempt  the  rescue  of  Petros  before  Yanni  is  out 
of  Tripoli,  for  so  his  life  will  be  forfeit.  And  I,  too,  I 
must — ah,  I  shall  give  myself  up  to  those  Turks  !" 

226 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

"  But  why,  Uncle  Nicholas  ?"  asked  Mitsos,  fairly 
puzzled. 

"  Because  it  is  easier  for  two  men  to  escape  than  one, 
and  also  because,  if  they  get  away  from  the  village  with 
me  and  Petrobey  without  alarm  given  to  the  clan,  they 
will  make  less  haste  to  Tripoli,  for  if  I  am  with  them 
they  will  not  fear  that  I  should  get  to  Yanni  first.  Oh, 
Mitsos,  this  is  a  good  thought  of  mine  !  but  the  clan 
must  keep  very  quiet,  and  let  the  little  men  think  they 
do  not  know  what  is  happening." 

'^  Then  I  am  off  for  Yanni  ?"  asked  Mitsos. 

"  On  the  instant.     AVhere  is  your  horse  ?'' 

**At  Petrobey's.'' 

*'  Then  go  round  to  the  house  of  some  cousin  ;  go  to 
Demetri  and  get  a  horse,  and  off  with  you.  There  is 
no  time  to  lose.  Stay,  you  do  not  know  where  you  and 
Yanni  are  to  go  from  Tripoli.  You  must  escape  by 
night  and  go  straight  over  the  hills  to  the  edge  of  the 
upper  Arcadian  plain,  where  stands  Megalopolis ;  there 
strike  southward  over  on  to  Taygetus  and  find  your  way 
to  the  hill  above  Lada,  on  the  top  of  the  pass,  where  you 
watched  for  the  beacon  from  Bassae.  We  shall  be  there. 
I  shall  go  round  the  village  and  see  that  the  whole  clan 
know  what  has  happened  and  where  they  will  join  us  on 
Taygetus  ;  then  I  shall  give  myself  up.  And  now,  little 
Mitsos,  God  speed  ;  remember  that  we  love  you,  and  be 
very  careful  and  very  quiet.  Yanni's  life  depends  on 
you." 

So  Mitsos  stole  off  in  the  darkness  to  go  to  Bemetri's 
house,  and  Nicholas  went  back  to  the  village  to  warn  the 
clan.  In  an  hour's  time  messengers  had  started  to  the 
villages  round  saying  what  had  happened,  and  giving  the 
clan  to  know  where  they  were  to  go  when  the  few  prep- 
arations which  remained  with  regard  to  the  storing  of 

227 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  powder  were  completed,  and  also  definitely  saying 
that  the  outbreak  would  begin,  as  soon  as  possible,  by 
the  siege  of  Kalaniata.  Then  Nicholas  went  to  Petrobey's 
house  and  found  the  soldier  still  in  the  road  opposite 
with  the  horses. 

'*'  There  is  no  passing/^  he  said. 

"  You  do  not  know  to  whom  you  are  speaking/'  said 
Nicholas,  haughtily.  '*I  am  Nicholas  Vidalis,  of  whom 
you  may  have  heard." 

The  answer  was  what  he  anticipated,  and  he  found 
himself  covered  by  the  soldiers  pistol,  while  the  latter 
shouted  to  those  inside:  *^Here  is  Nicholas  Vidalis!'^ 
Then,  addressing  Nicholas,  he  said,  '^Move,  and  I  shoot." 

Nicholas  stood  quite  still,  for  he  had  no  wish  either  to 
move  or  to  be  shot,  while  another  soldier  ran  out  from 
the  house. 

^'I  suppose  you  have  authority  for  this,"  he  said,  *^  or 
there  will  be  a  settling  between  us." 

''The  authority  of  Mehemet  Salik,"  said  the  second 
soldier,  ''the  Governor  of  Tripoli,  to  arrest  you  and 
Petros  Mavromichales  and  bring  you  to  Tripoli." 

They  had  been  speaking  in  Turkish,  and  Nicholas,  with 
intention,  asked  the  next  question  in  Greek. 

"  For  what  am  I  arrested  ?" 

"I  do  not  know  Greek,"  said  the  soldier. 

"  God  be  praised  for  that !"  thought  Nicholas,  and  he 
repeated  his  question  in  Turkish. 

"  For  seditious  designs  against  the  sovereign  power  of 
the  Sultan  and  his  deputy  in  Tripoli,  Mehemet  Salik." 

Nicholas  laughed. 

"  That  sounds  serious.  Shall  I  go  inside,  gentlemen  ? 
I  am  your  prisoner,  and  I  deliver  up  my  arms,"  and  he 
handed  the  soldier  his  pistol  and  knife  and  stepped  in. 
"I  should  advise  you,"  he  added,  "  to  come  in,  too,  for 

228 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

if  some  of  this  hot-headed  clan  see  a  Turk  standing  there 
he  will  not  stand  there  long  entire.  Come  in,  friend, 
for  though  I  am  maliciously  accused  that  is  no  fault  of 
yours,  and  I  would  not  see  your  blood  nor  the  blood  of 
my  clan  shed." 

The  soldier  followed  his  advice  and  led  the  horses  in- 
side, barring  the  gate  behind  him. 

Petrobey  had  heard  Nicholas's  voice,  and  a  great  wave 
of  relief  came  over  him.  He  had  been  sitting  there  quite 
silent,  guarded  by  two  soldiers,  in  a  dumb  agony  of  fear, 
not  for  himself,  but  for  Yanni.  That  he  himself  could 
escape  somehow  or  other  on  the  way  to  Tripoli  he  did 
not  doubt,  but  his  escape  meant  death  to  Yanni  if  still 
in  the  town,  as  the  letter  from  Mehemet  said ;  while  if 
he  delivered  himself  up  at  Tripoli,  the  moment  the  war 
of  independence  began,  death  to  both  of  them.  His 
only  consolation  had  been  that  Nicholas,  at  least,  was 
safe.  He  would  have  been  back  an  hour  before,  unless 
in  some  way  the  alarm  had  been  given  him,  and  his  ap- 
pearance now,  coming  in  peacefully  and  calmly,  must 
mean  that  he  knew  what  had  happened,  and  had  some 
wise  thought  within  him.  Mitsos — and  at  the  thought 
of  Mitsos  he  looked  up  suddenly  at  Nicholas,  in  the  sud- 
den hope  that  Mitsos  had  started  for  Tripoli — and  as  he 
caught  Nicholas's  eye  the  latter  nodded  and  smiled,  and 
Petrobey  felt  certain  that  Nicholas  had  answered  the 
question  he  had  silently  asked  him. 

Nicholas  sat  down  cheerfully  and  continued  to  speak 
in  Turkish  : 

"  This  is  some  strange  mistake,"  he  said,  "but  I  shall 
not  be  sorry  to  pay  my  respects  to  his  Excellency  in 
Tripoli,  a  duty  which  I  have  hitherto  neglected." 

One  of  the  soldiers  smiled. 

"And  his  Excellency  will  not  be  sorry  to  see  you. 
329 


THE    VINTAGE 

He  sent  for  you,  if  you  remember,  last  autumn,  and 
your  cousin  wrote  him  a  letter  saying  that  his  bastard 
kinsman  should  be  sought  for  and  sent  when  found/'' 

This  was  a  little  disconcerting,  but  Nicholas  waved 
his  hand  lightly. 

"A  private  quarrel  merely  between  myself  and  my 
cousin,"  he  said,  *^  which  has  long  ago  been  made  up. 
Eh,  cousin  ?"  Then,  in  Greek,  ^^They  don't  talk  Greek, 
God  be  thanked !" 

Petrobey  nodded  assent. 

"We  set  off  to-morrow,  Nicholas,"  he  said,  ''and  that 
very  early  in  the  morning.  To-night  we  have  guests 
with  us,  and  it  is  time  for  supper.  Please  seat  your- 
selves, gentlemen.  Poor  fare,  I  am  afraid,  but  we  did 
not  know  that  we  should  be  honored  by  your  presence 
to-night." 

Petrobey  clapped  his  hands,  and  the  servant  brought 
the  supper.  He  was  a  big,  strong  lad  of  Yanni's  age, 
the  son  of  a  small  farm -holding  tenant  on  Petrobey's 
land,  who  had  been  left  an  orphan  while  still  quite  a 
young  boy.  Petrobey  had  brought  him  up  in  his  own 
house,  as  half  servant  and  half  companion  to  Yanni,  ex- 
acting little  service,  but  receiving  complete  devotion. 

*'  Put  on  supper,"  he  said,  in  Greek,  "  and  keep  your 
ears  well  open." 

The  boy  brought  in  the  food,  and  they  all  sat  down 
together.  The  meal  had  only  been  prepared  for  three, 
but  as  Mitsos  was  to  have  been  one  of  the  three,  and  the 
Turks  were  small  eaters,  there  seemed  to  be  plenty  of 
food.  All  three  soldiers,  from  living  among  the  Greeks, 
had  relaxed  their  religious  abstinence  from  wine,  where 
the  wine  was  good,  and  the  meal  went  on  merrily  enough, 
Nicholas,  in  particular,  talking  and  laughing  with  them, 
and  speaking  Turkish  with  wonderful  fluency  and  ac- 

230 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

curacy.  Under  pretext  of  Petrobey's  not  speaking 
Turkish  at  all  easily,  it  was  soon  arranged  between  him 
and  Nicholas  that  he  should  speak  in  Greek  and  Nicho- 
las act  as  interpreter,  translating  into  Turkish  the  re- 
marks he  made  to  his  guests,  and  his  guests'  conversa- 
tion into  Greek  ;  and  so  it  came  about  that  long  before 
the  meal  was  over  Petrobey  was  fully  acquainted  with 
Mitsos'  departure  for  Tripoli  and  also  Nicholas's  idea 
for  the  next  day,  and  they  discussed  at  some  length, 
without  arousing  the  least  suspicion,  their  own  manner 
of  escape. 

This,  Nicholas  suggested,  should  be  made  as  soon  as 
possible  on  the  journey  ;  if  it  could  be  managed,  at  the 
first  halt,  for  Mitsos  would  have  had  twelve  hours'  start, 
and  should  have  had  time  to  get  Yanni  safely  out.  The 
advantage  of  doing  this  early  would  be  that  they  would 
still  be  travelling  in  the  country  of  the  clan,  who  would, 
were  it  necessary,  turn  out  to  cover  their  retreat ;  and 
Nicholas  suggested  that  they  should  have  recourse  to  a 
very  simple  expedient,  which  he  had  tried  with  success 
once  before.  The  lad  Constantino  would  come  with 
them,  he  proposed,  carrying  food  for  the  mid-day  meal, 
as  it  was  six  hours  to  the  next  village  ;  Nicholas,  Pe- 
trobey, and  the  boy  would  be  quite  unarmed  ;  and  the 
Turks,  secure  in  the  knowledge  that  Yanni  was  still 
hostage,  would  not,  he  thought,  attempt  to  bind  them. 
That,  however,  he  would  ascertain.  During  their  meal, 
which  should  be  ample  and  full  of  wine,  the  boy  should 
be  instructed  to  cut  the  girths  of  the  Turks'  horses,  and 
get  away  home  as  fast  as  might  be.  Then  after  a  decent 
interval  they  should  think  about  going  on,  and  Petrobey 
and  he,  mounting  as  quick  as  they  could,  should  ride 
cheerfully  off  at  full  speed  across  country  towards  Tay- 
getus.     '^  The  soldiers,"  added  Nicholas,  with  admirable 

231 


THE    VINTAGE 

gravity,  ''will  attempt  to  do  the  same,  and  I  wish  little 
Mitsos  was  here  to  see  them,  for  it  does  me  good  to  see 
Mitsos  laugh/' 

All  this  was  conveyed  in  short  sentences,  interpolated 
with  Petrobey's  supposed  replies  to  the  Turks  ;  and  Pe- 
trobey,  who  had  taken  care  that  Constantino  should  be  in 
the  room  while  it  was  going  on,  said  to  him,  carelessly, 
holding  out  his  glass  : 

"  If  you  completely  understand,  Constantino,  fill  my 
glass  with  water,  and  then  go  ;  if  not,  give  wine  to 
Nicholas." 

Constantino  took  the  water-jug  in  his  hand,  filled  Pe- 
trobey's  glass,  and  left  the  room. 

Incidentally,  Nicholas,  while  speaking  in  Turkish,  had 
begged  the  soldiers  that  they  might  start  very  early,  for 
there  would  be  big  trouble,  he  thought,  among  the  clan, 
if  they  saw  their  chief  riding  off  guarded  by  Turks.  His 
desire,  he  explained,  was  to  get  to  Tripoli  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, for,  as  they  knew,  Petrobey's  only  son  was  held 
hostage  there  by  Mehemet  Salik,  and  he  feared  that  if 
there  was  a  disturbance  among  the  Mavromichales,  or  if 
— which  God  forbid ! — the  clan  were  so  foolish  as  to  fire 
upon  them,  Petrobey  might  be  held  responsible,  and  it 
would  go  hardly  with  the  son.  To  this  they  assented, 
saying  also  that,  provided  their  two  prisoners  would 
come  unarmed,  the  hostage  in  Tripoli  should  be  consid- 
ered security  enough,  and  they  should  go  like  gentlemen 
upon  a  journey. 

Though  it  was  not  very  early  next  morning  when  they 
started,  the  village,  following  Nicholas's  directions  of 
the  night  before,  showed  no  sign  of  life.  But  a  closer 
observer  might  have  noticed  stealthy  faces  at  the  windows 
hastily  and  suddenly  withdrawn,  for  the  clan,  who  would 
have  laid  their  money  on  Nicholas  and  Petrobey  if  all 

232 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

the  Ottoman  forces  were  out  against  them,  and  who  had 
a  keen  sense  of  humor,  regarded  the  affair  as  a  practical 
joke  of  the  most  magnificent  order,  for  Nicholas  had  told 
them  the  night  before  what  the  method  of  escape  was  to 
be.  So  the  procession,  with  one  soldier  in  front,  Nicholas 
and  Petrobey  in  the  centre,  guarded  on  the  outside  by 
the  other  two,  with  Constantino  behind  driving  a  pony 
laden  with  food  and  wine  for  their  mid-day  meal,  went 
unmolested,  though  watched  by  an  appreciative  audience, 
out  of  the  village  and  down  the  steep  hill  into  the  plain. 
Nicholas  relieved  the  tedium  of  the  way  with  the  most 
racy  and  delightful  stories,  and  then  all  went  on  in  the 
utmost  harmony. 

Some  three  hours  later  they  were  come  to  a  large  and 
pleasant-smelling  pine-wood,  and  about  half-way  through 
this,  where  another  bridle-path  joined  the  one  they  were 
in,  leading  up  towards  the  farther  hill  -  villages  of  Tay- 
getus,  they  chanced  upon  a  clear  way-side  stream,  and 
here  Petrobey  proposed  they  should  halt  for  their  dinner. 
Abundance  of  juicy  grass  grew  round  the  water  some 
thirty  yards  farther  down,  and  tethering  the  horses  there 
so  that  they  could  not  stray,  for  they  would  be  just  out 
of  sight  of  the  place  where  their  masters  ate,  Petrobey 
told  Constantino  to  get  ready  the  food.  However,  the 
sun  shone  rather  warm  on  this  spot,  and  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  one  of  the  soldiers  they  moved  a  little  higher  up 
into  the  shade  of  the  trees.  Constantino  waited  assidu- 
ously on  the  guests  until  all  had  eaten  their  fill,  and  then, 
bringing  more  wine  from  a  cold  basin  in  the  stream, 
where  he  had  put  it  to  regain  its  coolness,  he  retired  a 
little  distance  off  to  eat  of  the  remains  of  the  dinner, 
execute  his  orders,  and  steal  homeward. 

The  others  drank  and  smoked  and  chatted  for  some 
quarter  of  an  hour  more,  till  Nicholas,  observing  that 

233 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  snn  had  already  passed  its  meridian,  suggested  that, 
as  they  had  a  long  day  before  them,  if  they  were,  as  he 
trusted,  to  reach  Tripoli  the  next  night,  it  would  be  wise 
to  start.  The  soldiers  assented,  but  drowsily,  for  they 
had  again  drunk  somewhat  freely  at  their  prisoners^  ex- 
pense, and  they  all  moved  off  to  where  they  had  left 
their  horses  and  accoutrements.  Nicholas  could  not  sup- 
press a  chuckle  of  amusement  when  he  saw  that  Constan- 
tino had  taken  the  precaution  of  loosening  the  flint  from 
the  hammers  of  their  guns,  and  then  saying  suddenly  to 
Petrobey,  "Now!"  the  two  ran  forward,  unpicketed 
their  horses,  and  swinging  into  the  saddle,  spurred  them 
through  the  belt  of  trees  which  separated  them  from  the 
pathway  towards  Taygetus.  They  heard  an  exclamation 
of  dismay  and  surprise  from  the  soldiers,  and  the  feeble 
click  of  a  loose  flint  against  the  steel,  and  the  next  mo- 
ment they  were  oif  full  gallop  up  the  steep  hill-road. 

Then  followed  a  scene  which  would  have  made  the 
mouths  of  the  clan  to  be  full  of  laughter,  for  the  first 
soldier  vaulted  with  some  agility  into  the  saddle  and 
started  gallantly  off  in  pursuit,  closely  followed  by  the 
second,  who  had  done  the  same.  The  first  went  brave- 
ly for  about  six  yards,  the  second  for  rather  less,  and 
then  they  rolled  off  right  and  left,  clutching  wildly  at 
their  horses'  manes,  the  one  into  the  stream,  the  other 
into  a  fine  furze  bush.  The  third,  a  bulky  man,  was 
rather  more  fortunate,  for,  being  incapable  of  jumping 
into  the  saddle,  he  put  his  foot  nimbly  into  the  stirrup, 
only  to  find  his  horse  standing  beside  him  barebacked  and 
with  an  expression  of  innocent  surprise,  and  himself 
with  the  curious  feeling  experienced  when  we  are  fain  to 
walk  up  a  step  and  find  there  is  no  step  to  walk  up. 

The  next  half-hour  went  wearily  and  hotly  for  them. 
By  sacrificing  one  girth  they  patched  up  the  other  two, 

234 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

and  one  went  up  the  pathway  towards  Taygetus  in  pur- 
suit, while  the  other  rode  on  to  Tripoli.  The  two  most 
agile,  as  being  the  lighter  weights,  took  these  tasks  upon 
themselves,  while  the  heavier  one,  who  could  not  ride 
bareback  without  pain  to  his  person,  walked  sorrowfully 
on,  a  heavy  saddle  in  one  hand,  his  horse's  bridle  in  the 
other,  a  three-hours'  tramp  to  the  next  village,  where  he 
hoped  to  have  his  dilapidations  repaired. 

The  adventures  of  the  first  who  rode  after  the  escaped 
prisoners  were  short.  Half  an  hour's  ride  brought  him 
to  the  outskirts  of  a  village  which  was  all  humming  like 
a  hive  of  bees,  and  the  humorous  Mavromichales,  who  in- 
habited it  in  some  number,  and  who  were  excellent 
marksmen,  sent  a  few  bullets  whistling  close  round  him — 
one  went  a  little  to  the  right,  another  slightly  to  the  left, 
a  third  sang  sweetly  over  his  head,  and  a  fourth  raised  a 
little  puff  of  dust  at  his  feet.  It  occurred  to  him  that 
they  might  perhaps  be  able  to  aim  straighter  if  they 
wished,  for  there  was  a  devilish  precision  about  the  close- 
ness of  the  shots  that  made  his  heart  turn  cold,  and  with 
one  more  glance,  sufficient  however  to  show  him  Nich- 
olas and  Petrobey  bowing  politely  in  the  midst  of  their 
clan,  he  turned  tail,  and  just  galloped  back  along  the 
road  he  had  come. 


CHAPTER  VII 
MITSOS   DISARKAKGES   A   HOUSE-ROOF 

Fro3I  Panitza  to  Gytliium  it  was  reckoned  two  days  of 
twelve  hours,  or  three  of  eight,  but  Mitsos,  who  set  off 
about  ten  at  night,  got  there  within  thirty  hours  of  the 
time  he  started,  thus  arriving  well  before  daybreak  on 
the  second  morning ;  and  at  sundown  that  day,  looking 
over  the  valley  of  Sparta  from  the  hills  leading  up  to  the 
pass  into  the  plain  of  Tripoli,  he  timed  Himself  to  be 
there  two  hours  before  sunrise,  thus  allowing  plenty  of 
time  for  Yanni  and  himself  to  get  out  of  the  town  before 
the  folk  were  awake.  But  for  the  present,  as  the  moon 
was  up,  he  pushed  forward  along  the  road,  reserving  his 
halt  for  the  two  dark  hours  after  midnight.  He  had 
eaten  but  little  that  day,  and  his  eyelids  felt  like  the 
eyes  of  dolls,  laden  with  weights  that  would  drag  them 
down  ;  but  knowing  that  if  he  slept  he  would  gravely 
risk  an  over-sleeping,  he  paced  up  and  down  by  the  edge 
of  the  field  where  he  had  tethered  Demetri's  pony,  eat- 
ing a  crust  of  bread,  which  he  washed  down  with  some 
rather  sour  wine  he  had  got  at  Gythium.  Now  and  then 
he  would  pause  for  a  moment,  but  he  felt  physically  in- 
capable of  keeping  awake  except  by  moving,  and  fearing 
to  fall  down  and  sleep  if  he  stopped,  he  began  tramping 
up  and  down  without  cessation.  Luckily  he  had  a  pouch 
of  tobacco  and  his  pipe  and  tinder-box,  and  he  smoked 
continuously. 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

But  it  was  better  to  be  moving  tban  waiting,  and  when 
he  judged  that  his  pony — of  which,  like  all  wise  men,  he 
was  more  careful  than  of  himself — had  had  sufficient  rest, 
he  set  out  again.  He  had  wrapped  his  capote  close  round 
him,  for  the  night  was  cold,  and  he  was  just  beginning 
to  feel  that  if  he  hoped  to  keep  awake,  he  had  better  get 
down  and  trot  by  the  pony's  side,  when  the  beast  stum- 
bled on  a  heap  of  stones,  and  in  trying  to  recover  itself 
stumbled  again,  and  pitched  forward  right  onto  its  knees, 
throwing  Mitsos  off. 

Mitsos  was  unhurt  and  picked  himself  up  quickly,  but 
the  poor  brute  was  cut  to  the  bone,  and  stood  trembling 
with  pain  and  terror  as  Mitsos  examined  it.  For  one 
moment  the  boy  broke  down. 

''  Oh,  Holy  Virgin  \"  he  cried.  ^'But  what  shall  I  do  ?" 
But  the  next  moment  he  steadied  himself,  and  paused 
to  think.  It  was  still  four  hours  before  daybreak,  but 
by  that  time  he  and  Yanni  would  have  to  be  out  of  the 
town,  and  Tripoli  was  still  a  two-hours'  ride  distant.  To 
get  there  in  time  with  the  pony  was  hopelessly  out  of  the 
question,  and  to  get  there  on  his  own  legs  seemed  out 
of  the  question  too,  for  he  was  as  weary  as  a  young  man 
need  ever  hope  to  feel.  But  if  there  was  a  choice  it  lay 
there.  Meanwhile,  what  to  do  with  the  beast  ?  To  leave 
it  there,  all  cut,  bleeding,  and  in  pain,  through  the  night, 
only  to  die  on  those  bare  hills,  was  a  cruel  thing,  and 
Mitsos  decided  quickly.  He  led  it  very  gently  off  the 
road  among  the  trees,  and  with  a  strange  feeling  of  ten- 
derness, for  that  it  had  carried  him  gallantly,  and  done 
all  it  could  do  for  him  and  Yanni,  and  had  met  death  in 
the  doing,  kissed  the  white  star  on  its  down-dropped 
head.  Then  drawing  his  pistol,  he  put  it  to  its  ear,  and, 
turning  his  eyes  away,  fired.  The  poor  beast  dropped 
like  a  log,  and  Mitsos,  with  a  sob  in  his  throat,  looked 
.    237 


THE    VINTAGE 

not  behind,  but  went  back  through  the  trees,  and  throw- 
ing away  his  coat,  which  only  encumbered  him,  set  his 
teeth  and  went  jog-trotting  to  Tripoli. 

How  the  next  hours  passed  he  scarcely  knew.  He  felt 
so  utterly  tired  and  beaten  that  he  was  hardly  conscious 
of  himself,  his  very  weariness  probably  dulled  his  powers 
of  sensation,  and  all  he  knew  was  that  as  he  pushed  on 
with  limbs  dropping  from  fatigue,  eyes  aching  for  very 
weariness,  and  a  hammering  of  the  pulse  in  his  temples, 
the  trees  by  the  road-side  seemed  to  pass,  of  their  own 
movement,  by  him  like  ghosts.  Now  and  then  he  tripped 
over  the  uneven,  stony  road,  and  it  scarce  seemed  worth 
while  to  make  any  effort  to  recover  himself;  and  more 
than  once  he  felt  and  knew,  but  only  dimly,  that  his  trou- 
sers were  torn  on  the  stones,  and  his  knees  were  cut  and 
bleeding.  He  thought  of  the  pony  which  had  fallen  and 
cut  itself,  and  felt  vaguely  envious  of  its  fate. 

Lower  down  the  pass  where  the  hills  began  to  melt 
into  the  plain  it  grew  warmer,  and  in  a  half  dream  of  ex- 
haustion for  a  moment  he  thought  that  a  treeless  hollow 
of  the  hills  was  the  bay  of  Nauplia,  lying  cool  and  dark 
beneath  the  night.  Nauplia,  the  bay,  the  white  wall — it 
seemed  that  that  time  belonged  to  a  boy  called  Mitsos, 
but  not  himself ;  a  boy  who  had  been  happier  than  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  whereas  he  was  a  foot -sore,  utterly 
beaten  piece  of  consciousness,  that  would  plod  along  the 
white  ribbon  of  road  forever. 

Then  suddenly  as  he  thought  the  sky  lightened  and 
grew  gray  with  dawn,  and  the  next  moment  the  day  had 
broken  with  the  swiftness  of  the  South,  and  when  the 
sun  lifted  itself  above  the  hills  to  the  east,  it  showed  him 
Tripoli  all  shining  in  the  dawn,  still  about  a  mile  off. 

Mitsos  stopped  dead.  He  was  too  late.  During  the 
day  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  get  into  the  gov- 

338 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEKING 

ernor's  house,  and  during  the  day,  some  time  before  the 
blessed  night  fell  again,  the  soldiers  from  Panitza  would 
be  there ;  Petrobey  would  have  escaped,  trusting  to  his 
getting  to  Tripoli  first ;  and  Yanni  would  be.  .  .  .  Who 
was  Yanni  ?  Oh,  a  boy  he  had  travelled  with  once ;  they 
had  had  a  fine  time,  and  he  believed  he  had  promised  to 
come  and  get  him  out  of  Tripoli.  .  .  . 

Then  suddenly  with  a  sob  he  beat  his  hands  to- 
gether. 

''  Oh,  Yanni,  Yanni !"  he  cried ;  ''  little  Yanni  \" 

There  had  been  a  white  frost  during  the  night,  and  the 
fields  were  all  stiff  and  glistening.  He  had  just  enough 
sense  to  strike  off  the  road  and  lie  down  under  the  shade 
of  a  tree,  sheltered  from  the  sun  and  untouched  by  the 
frost,  and  there  rolled  over  on  his  side,  and  next  moment 
was  sleeping  deep  and  dreamlessly  like  a  child  tired  with 
play.  There  he  lay  without  moving,  one  arm  shielding 
his  face  from  the  light,  and  when  he  woke  it  was  past 
mid-day,  the  blessed  gift  of  sleep  had  restored  him  body 
and  mind,  the  trouble  in  his  brain  had  run  down  like  the 
tainted  water  of  a  spate,  leaving  it  clear  and  lucent,  and 
the  strength  had  come  back  to  his  limbs. 

He  sat  there  some  quarter  of  an  hour  longer,  thinking 
Intently.  He  had  no  self-reproach  to  interpose  itself  be- 
tween him  and  his  quest ;  the  accident  had  been  purely 
out  of  his  own  control,  and  he  had  done  what  would  have 
seemed  to  himself  impossible  if  he  had  not  done  it.  Then 
he  took  stock  of  the  position ;  and  the  position  was  that 
the  soldiers  might  be  expected  at  any  time  after  four 
that  afternoon ;  and  as  it  would  not  be  dark  till  six, 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  go  on  to  Tripoli  and  wait, 
watching  the  road  from  Sparta.  If  they  came  before 
dark  he  determined  to  make  an  attempt  to  get  in,  des- 
perate though  it  might  be,  for  when  once  they  had  given 

239 


THE    VINTAGE 

their  report  to  Mehemet  Salik,  there  would  be  no  more 
Yanni. 

So  he  went  on  and  ate  at  a  Greek  khan  within  the 
town,  and  then  strolled  back  to  the  square  and  examined 
the  house  again.  Once  the  door  opened,  and  he  went 
quickly  down  a  side  street  for  fear  the  porter,  who  had 
seen  him  before,  might  recognize  him ;  then  he  took  an- 
other look  at  the  wall  by  which  he  hoped  to  get  access 
to  the  house.  Under  the  influence  of  food  and  sleep  the 
spirit  of  his  courage  had  revived,  and  about  two  o'clock 
he  went  back  again  down  the  street  leading  into  the 
Sparta  road,  and  sitting  down  a  little  distance  from  it, 
kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  point  where  it  vanished  round 
the  first  hill-side.  Three  o'clock  passed,  four  and  five, 
and  thin  white  clouds  in  the  west  began  to  be  tinged 
with  rose,  and  Mitsos'  heart  tapped  quicker ;  in  another 
hour  it  would  be  dark,  and  time  for  his  attempt.  He 
sat  on  there  till  nearly  six,  and  the  darkness  began  to 
fall  in  layers  over  the  sky,  and  the  colors  to  fade  out  of 
things  ;  then  giving  one  last  look  up  the  road,  he  turned 
and  went  into  the  town  again. 

When  he  arrived  at  the  square  the  little  oil  -  lamps 
at  the  corners  were  already  lit,  and  the  figures  of  men 
seemed  like  shadows.  He  turned  down  the  street  where 
the  low  wall  stood,  but  found  to  his  annoyance  that  only 
a  few  paces  down  was  a  cafe,  which  had  been  empty 
during  the  day,  but  was  now  beginning  to  fill  with 
guests — for  the  most  part  Turkish  soldiers;  and  he  was 
obliged  to  wait.  But  these  had  apparently  only  come  in 
for  a  glass  of  mastic  before  dinner,  and  in  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  there  were  only  left  there  the  cafe-keeper,  who 
seemed  to  be  dozing  over  his  glass,  and  an  old  Greek 
countryman  in  fustanella  dress.  Mitsos,  who  had  sta- 
tioned  liimself  some   hundred   yards  off,  drew  a  deep 

240 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERINa 

breath,  and  stole  noiselessly  back  in  the  shadow  of  the 
wall. 

By  standing  on  a  heap  of  rubbish  which  lay  there  he 
could  get  his  fingers  on  the  top  of  the  wall,  and  slipping 
oil  his  shoes,  so  that  his  toes  might  more  easily  make  use 
of  the  crevices  between  the  stones,  he  worked  himself 
slowly  up,  and  in  a  moment  was  crouching  on  .the  top. 
Then  came  the  easier  but  the  more  dangerous  task,  for 
as  he  crept  along  the  roof  of  the  house  where  Yanni  was 
his  figure  would  be  silhouetted  against  the  sky ;  but  the 
roof  was  not  more  than  four  feet  above  the  top  of  the 
lower  garden  wall,  and  bending  over  it  he  raised  himself 
up  and  wriggled  snake  -  wise  along  the  edge.  Yanni's 
room,  in  front  of  which  stood  the  pillar  by  which  he 
meant  to  climb  down  into  the  balcony,  was  the  second 
room  from  the  end,  and,  judging  the  distance  as  well  as 
he  could,  he  glided  along  for  about  nine  feet,  and  then 
began  to  make  his  way  slowly  down  the  roof.  He  had 
calculated  the  distance  well,  and  when  he  was  about  half- 
way down,  the  tiled  roof,  which  was  but  lightly  built  over 
laths,  and  was  not  constructed  to  bear  the  weight  of  su- 
perincumbent giants,  suddenly  creaked  beneath  him,  and 
next  moment  gave  way,  and  with  a  crash  fit  to  wake  the 
dead  he  was  precipitated  with  a  shower  of  tiles  right  into 
Yanni's  room,  and  within  a  few  feet  of  where  Yanni  was 
sitting,  with  his  arms  tied  behind  him. 

Mitsos  did  not  think  whether  he  was  hurt  or  not,  but 
picked  himself  up  and  showed  himself  to  Yanni.  Yanni 
gave  one  wild  gasp  of  astonishment. 

''  Oh,  dear  Mitsos,"  he  said,  *^^you  have  not  come  too 
soon.     Quick,  cut  this  rope  !" 

He  whipped  out  his  knife,  and  had  hardly  cut  the  rope 
when  they  heard  a  key  grate  in  the  lock,  and  Mitsos, 
taking  one  step  to  behind  the  door,  sprang  out  like  a  wild- 
Q  241 


THE    VINTAGE 

cat  on  Yanni's  keeper — who  lived  next  door,  and  had  not 
unnaturally  come  in  to  see  what  had  happened — and  threw 
him  to  the  ground,  while  Yanni  without  a  second's  hesi- 
tation bound  a  thick  scarf  round  his  mouth  by  way  of  a 

"'^Now  the  rope/'  said  Mitsos,  and  they  tied  his  arms 
to  his  sides  and  his  legs  together,  and  looked  at  each 
other  a  moment. 

'^ There  is  the  porter!'^  said  Yanni;  'Mie  will  be  here. 
Shut  the  door,  Mitsos,  and  lock  it  inside.^' 

Next  they  moved  the  bedstead  and  all  the  furniture 
they  could  against  the  door,  and  barred  the  windows, 
and  Yanni  gave  an  additional  twist  to  the  scarf  that 
bound  the  Turk's  mouth. 

^'  There  is  not  much  time,"  said  Mitsos ;  and  pulling 
the  table  out  of  the  heap  of  furniture  they  had  piled  at 
the  door,  he  climbed  onto  it,  and  with  one  vigorous  eifort 
brought  down  all  the  tiles  which  were  lying  loosely  be- 
tween the  hole  his  entrance  had  made  and  the  outside 
wall.  From  the  table  he  could  easily  spring  up  onto  the 
top  of  the  wall,  and  lying  along  it  reached  down  two 
great  hands  to  Yanni.  Yanni  grasped  them,  and  with 
much  kicking  and  struggling,  not  having  Mitsos'  inches, 
he  got  himself  on  the  top. 

Mitsos  turned  to  him  with  a  suppressed  bubble  of 
laughter. 

^'  Eh,  Yanni,"  he  whispered,  ''  but  it  was  truth  you 
said  when  you  told  me  you  would  grow  very  fat.  Come 
quickly.  Ah,  but  there's  the  porter  at  the  door — one 
outside  and  one  inside,  and  we  two  on  the  roof." 

The  descent  was  easily  accomplished;  by  good  luck  the 
street  was  empty;  and  waiting  a  moment  for  Mitsos  to 
put  on  his  shoes  again,  the  two  ran  as  hard  as  they  could 
down  it,  away  from  the  square,  keeping  in  the  shadow  of 

242 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEEING 

the  walls.  From  the  end  of  it  a  cross  street  led  out  to 
the  western  gate  of  the  town,  and  drawing  near  cautious- 
ly they  saw  it  had  been  already  shut,  and  a  sentry  was 
standing  by  it. 

Once  again  Yanni's  wit,  wedded  to  Mitsos'  strength, 
was  to  stand  them  in  good  stead. 

"Mitsos,"  he  whispered,  *^he  will  open  the  gate  for 
you,  for  it  has  been  market-day.  Go,  then,  down  the 
road,  and  I  will  follow  in  the  shadow  of  the  wall.  Then, 
when  he  opens  the  gate  to  you,  hold  him  very  fast,  and 
I  will  take  the  key  from  him  and  run  through.  And  oh, 
cousin — but  we  must  be  quick.^' 

Mitsos  did  not  quite  understand  the  object  of  taking 
the  key,  but,  walking  straight  on,  he  asked  to  be  let  out. 

*'From  the  market  ?"  asked  the  sentry. 

"Surely,  and  going  home  to  Thana,"  said  Mitsos, 
naming  a  village  near. 

The  man  took  out  the  key,  unbarred  and  unbolted 
the  door,  and  the  moment  the  lock  was  turned  Mitsos 
grasped  him  tightly  round  the  arms  from  behind.  The 
sentry  was  but  a  little  man,  and  his  struggles  in  Mitsos' 
grasp  were  of  the  faintest ;  and  when  Mitsos,  with  a 
brilliant  smile,  whispered,  "You  scream,  I  kill !"  enforc- 
ing his  fragmentary  Turkish  with  a  precautionary  nudge 
of  the  elbow,  he  was  as  silent  as  the  grave.  In  the 
mean  time  Yanni  had  passed  them,  and  taking  the  key 
from  the  lock  fitted  it  into  the  outside  of  the  gate  and 
said,  hurriedly,  to  Mitsos : 

"Quick,  cousin  !  throw  him  away  \" 

Mitsos,  still  smiling  kindly,  lifted  the  Turk  off  his  feet, 
and,  with  a  mighty  swing,  threw  him,  as  Yanni  suggested, 
onto  the  road,  where  he  fell,  pitiably,  in  a  heap,  and, 
once  free  from  Mitsos,  called,  in  a  lamentable  voice,  for 
Mohammed  the  Prophet.     Next  moment  Yanni  had  shut 

243 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  gate,  locked  it,  and  thrown  the  key  away  into  the 
bushes  that  lined  the  road. 

The  two  looked  at  each  other  for  a  moment,  and  then 
Mitsos  broke  into  a  roar  of  good,  wholesome  laughter, 
as  unlike  as  possible  to  the  exhibition  to  which  he  had 
treated  Yanni  after  the  affair  of  the  powder-mill.  Yanni 
joined  in,  and  for  a  few  seconds  they  stood  there  shak- 
ing and  helpless.     Mitsos  recovered  himself  first. 

''^Oh,  Yanni  I"  he  cried,  ''but  I  could  laugh  till  morn- 
ing were  there  not  other  things  to  do !  Come  away ; 
there  will  be  no  sleep  for  us  this  night.  No,  we  keep  to 
the  road  at  present  and  go  westward.  Come,  we  will  talk 
afterwards." 

For  two  hours  they  jogged  on  as  fast  as  Yanni  could, 
for  a  month  of  living  in  the  confinement  of  a  house  and 
garden  ''has  made  a  hole,"  as  he  said,  "in  my  bellows ; 
and  as  for  the  fat  of  me,  why,  Mitsos,  it's  a  thing  of 
shame."  But  there  was  no  wind  in  him  for  more  than 
the  running,  and  it  was  in  silence  they  climbed  the  steep 
road  into  the  mountains  between  Tripoli  and  the  plain  of 
Megalopolis.  These  were  cut  in  half  by  a  small  valley 
lying  between  the  two  rows  of  hills,  with  a  sharp  descent 
into  it  from  each  side,  going  down  into  which  Yanni  re- 
covered his  wind  a  littie.  On  the  edge  of  the  valley,  as 
Mitsos  knew,  stood  a  small  khan,  the  keeper  of  which  was 
his  father's  friend,  and  as  a  light  still  shone  in  the  window 
he  and  Yanni  entered  to  rest  awhile  and  get  provisions 
for  the  morning.  Anastasis  was  glad  to  see  him,  and 
asked  him  what  he  was  doing  there  and  at  that  time ; 
and  Mitsos,  knowing  his  man,  told  him  in  a  few  words  the 
story  of  the  escape,  and  begged  him,  if  there  was  pursuit 
from  Tripoli,  to  say  that  they  had  just  passed,  going  to 
Megalopolis.  "  For  you  see,"  put  in  Yanni,  observing 
that  their  host's  wits  were  not  of  the  quickest,  "we  are 

244 


THE    EVE    OP    THE    GATHERING 

not  going  to  Megalopolis,  and  it  will  be  a  fine  gain  of 
time  to  lis  if  they  seek  us  there/' 

After  an  interval  this  appeared  to  Anastasis  to  be  a 
most  admirable  joke,  and  for  five  minutes  more,  as  he 
was  cutting  them  bread  and  meat,  he  kept  bursting  out 
into  a  chuckle  of  delight,  and  turned  to  Mitsos,  saying, 
^^Then  they'll  find  you  not  at  Megalopolis.  Eh,  who 
would  have  thought  it  ?" 

But  Mitsos  hurried  Yanni  off  again.  They  had  not 
probably  more  than  half  an  hour's  start,  ''  though  it  will 
take  them  not  a  little  time  to  clear  a  way  into  your  room/' 
said  Mitsos  ;  and  though,  through  the  steepness  of  the 
ascent,  a  horse  could  go  no  quicker  than  a  man,  there  was 
no  time  to  waste,  and  they  struck  off  the  road  a  little 
southward,  straight  in  the  direction  of  Taygetus.  All 
night  they  went,  sometimes  walking,  but  more  often 
running,  and  when  morning  dawned  they  found  them- 
selves on  the  lower  foot-hills  of  Taygetus,  but  still  a  day's 
journey  from  their  rendezvous.  But  Yanni  declared  he 
could  go  no  farther  for  the  present.  His  eyes  were  full 
of  sleep ;  his  stomach  was  dust  within  him,  and  his  legs 
were  one  ache.  So  Mitsps,  after  a  five-minutes'  climb  to 
the  top  of  a  neighboring  ridge,  came  back  with  the  tid- 
ings that  he  could  not  discern  man,  beast,  or  village,  and 
decreed  that  they  should  lie  here  all  day  and  not  start 
again  till  near  sunset. 

Then  said  Yanni :  "  It  will  be  a  long  talk  we  shall  have 
before  sunset ;  but,  Mitsos,  if  the  day  of  judgment  was 
breaking  not  one  word  could  I  say  for  myself  till  I  have 
slept.     Ah,  but  it  is  good  to  be  with  you  again  !" 

And  he  turned  over  and  was  asleep  at  once. 

Mitsos  was  not  long  in  following  his  example,  but  he 
woke  first,  and,  seeing  by  the  sun  that  it  was  not  much 
after  mid-day,  got  up  quietly,  so  as  not  to  disturb  Yanni, 

245 


THE    VINTAGE 

and  went  in  search  of  water.  This  he  found  some 
quarter  of  a  mile  below  and  returned  to  Yanni^  who  had 
just  awoke.  They  took  their  food  down  to  the  spring 
and  ate  there,  and  then,  at  Mitsos'  suggestion,  went  back 
again  to  their  first  camping  place,  "  for  where  there  is  a 
spring,"  he  said,  **  there  may  be  folk,  and  we  want  folk 
but  little." 

"And  now,'^  said  Yanni,  as  they  settled  themselves 
again,  "begin  at  the  beginning,  Mitsos,  and  tell  me  all." 

"  I  went  straight  to  Nauplia  the  first  night,"  he  said, 
"and  arrived  there  very  late  —  after  midnight;  then, 
next  day,  I  went  off." 

"  Next  day  ?"  asked  Yanni.  "  Is  that  all  you  care 
about  Suleima  ?    Oh,  tell  me,  how  is  Suleima  ?" 

Mitsos  frowned. 

"  Oh,  never  mind  Suleima,"  he  said.  "  She  is  my 
affair.     Well,  next  day — " 

But  Yanni  interrupted  him. 

"Did  you  not  see  Suleima  ?"  he  asked. 

"No." 

"  Why  did  you  not  wait  that  night  and  see  her  ?" 

"Uncle  Nicholas  had  other  work  for  me  to  do." 

Yanni  looked  at  Mitsos  a  moment  and  then  laid  his 
hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  Mitsos,  dear  Mitsos  !"  he  said,  "  Oh,  I  am  so  sorry ! 
It  was  not  that,  you  know,  that  made  you  go  ;  it  was  the 
oath  of  the  clan  you  swore  to  me.  Mitsos,  don^'t  hate  me 
for  it.     Surely  there  is  no  one  like  you." 

Mitsos  looked  up,  smiling. 

"Nonsense,  Yanni  !  Is  a  promise  and  an  oath  a  thing 
to  make  and  break  ?  Besides,  it  seems  to  me  it  is  pretty 
lucky  I  came  when  I  did.  What  do  you  suppose  I  should 
be  thinking  now  if  I  had  got  back  to  Panitza  and  found 
it  was  too  late,  for,  in  truth,  I  was  not  much  too  soon  ? 

246 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

What  if  I  had  come  to  Tripoli,  as  it  were,  to-night,  in- 
stead of  last  night  ?" 

*'I  will  tell  you  afterwards  what  you  would  have 
found,"  said  Yanni,  suddenly  looking  angry.  '^Go  on, 
little  Mitsos." 

Mitsos  grinned. 

** Little,  who  is  little  ?  I  have  a  cousin  smaller  than 
I.     Well,  for  my  story." 

And  Mitsos  told  him  of  his  journey,  of  his  expedition 
to  Patras  and  the  monastery,  and  of  the  coming  of  the 
soldiers  to  Panitza. 

"And  for  the  rest,"  he  concluded,  "we  shall  have  to 
ask  Uncle  Nicholas  and  your  father.  There  are  not 
many  things  in  the  world  of  which  I  am  certain,  Yanni, 
but  one  is  that  we  shall  find  them  safe  and  sound  on  Tay- 
getus." 

Yanni  pulled  up  a  handful  of  sweet-smelling  thyme 
and  buried  his  face  in  it  for  a  moment. 

"Ah,  but  it  is  good  to  be  on  the  hills  again,  Mitsos," 
he  said,  "and  to  be  with  you.  I  shall  not  forget  the 
Mother  of  God.  My  story  is  very  short ;  I  am  glad  it 
has  not  been  longer." 

"Tell  me,"  said  Mitsos. 

"  Well,  for  a  week,  or  perhaps  a  fortnight,  I  ate  and 
slept,  and  one  day  was  like  another.  I  saw  Mehemet 
Salik  not  more  than  once  or  twice,  and  he  used  always 
to  ask  me  if  I  was  comfortable  and  had  all  that  I  wished 
for.  It  is  true  that  I  wished  for  the  hills  and  for  you, 
but  they  were  things  which  he  would  not  have  given  me, 
so  I  always  said  I  wanted  nothing.  Then  for  another 
week  or  so  he  would  come  and  see  me  of  tener,  and  asked 
me  about  my  father  and  the  clan,  and  whether  Nicholas 
had  been  seen  there  again.  And  I,  you  may  be  sure, 
always  told  him  that  the  clan  were  good  men  and  quiet 

247 


THE    VINTAGE 

livers,  who  worked  hard  in  the  fields,  and  thanked  God 
every  day  that  their  masters,  the  Turks,  were  kind  and 
just  to  them.  That,  it  seems,  was  a  mistake,  for  he 
smiled — these  Turks  know  not  how  to  laugh,  Mitsos,  not 
with  an  open  mouth — and  said  it  was  very  interesting  to 
hear  that  from  one  of  the  clan  themselves.  And  about 
Nicholas,  I  said  I  had  seen  him  when  I  was  little.^' 

"You  were  never  otherwise,"  remarked  Mitsos. 

''Oh,  cousin,"  said  Yanni,  ''but  your  mother  bore  a 
silly  loon.     Am  I  not  to  go  on  with  my  story,  then  ?" 

"Go  on,  big  Yanni,"  said  Mitsos. 

"  And  so  it  went  till  but  five  or  six  days  ago.  And 
then  on  one  morning,"  said  Yanni,  suddenly  flushing 
with  anger,  "  he  came  in  looking  white  and  cunning, 
with  an  evil  face.  The  Turk  who  was  my  guardian 
followed  him — he  is  a  good  man,  Mitsos,  save  that  he 
comes  of  the  accursed  race — and  Mehemet  said  to  me, 
'  So  the  clan  are  good  men  and  quiet,  and  they  thank 
their  God  that  they  have  such  kind  masters.  And  you, 
Yanni,  who  are  of  the  clan,  you  think  they  do  wisely  ?' 

"  I  don't  think  I  answered  him,  for  it  seemed  to  me 
he  wished  for  no  answer.  And  at  that  his  anger  sud- 
denly flared  up,  and  he  said,  '  Answer  me,  you  dog,  or 
I  will  have  your  hide  flayed  off  you.'  And  I  noticed 
it  as  curious,  Mitsos,  that  his  face  grew  white  as  he  got 
angry,  whereas  when  a  proper  man  is  angry  his  face  is  as 
a  sunset.  But  he  did  not  give  me  time  to  answer,  for 
he  went  on,  'You  are  dogs,  though  you  are  handsome 
dogs,  you  Greeks.  But  it  is  necessary  to  tie  dogs  up 
sometimes.  Thank  God  you  have  such  a  kind  master, 
Yanni,  and  let  your  hands  be  tied  behind  you  quietly.' 

"  '  Why  should  you  do  this  ?'  I  asked. 

"  '  Be  wise,'  he  said  ;  '  I  do  not  threaten  twice.' 

"  So  as  there  was  none  to  help  me,  I  let  it  be  done." 
348 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEKING 

Mitsos  gave  a  great  gulp. 

''  Oh,  Yanni,  by  a  cross-legged  Turk  !''  he  said. 

"What  was  I  to  do?  Would  it  have  helped  me  to 
fight,  and  afterwards  to  be  beaten  ?  But  Mehemet,  I 
saw,  was  more  at  his  ease  when  it  was  done,  and  drew 
his  chair  a  little  closer. 

"  *  We  shall  soon  teach  you  to  be  quiet  and  obedient 
like  the  rest  of  your  clan,'  he  said.  'And  now  for  what 
I  came  to  say.  You  will  soon  see  Nicholas  again,  for 
I  have  sent  for  him  and  for  your  father.  If  they  come, 
well  and  good ;  I  do  not  really  care  whether  they  come 
or  not — for  barking  dogs  hurt  nobody.  However,  they 
have  been  barking  too  loud.  And  if  they  do  not  come, 
my  little  Yanni,  we  shall  have  to  think  what  to  do  with 
you.  I  have  not  decided  yet' — and  the  devil  came  closer 
to  me,  Mitsos,  and  looked  at  me  as  a  man  looks  at  the 
fowls  and  sheep  in  the  market.  '  Perhaps  there  will  be 
a  rope  for  that  big  brown  neck  of  yours  ;  and  yet  I  do 
not  know,  for  you  are  a  handsome  boy,  and  I  should 
like  to  see  you  about  the  house,  perhaps  to  hand  the 
rose-water  after  dinner.  Let  us  see,  we  would  dress 
you  in  a  blue  waistcoat  with  silver  braid,  and  a  red  kaf- 
tan, I  think,  and  red  leggings,  with  yellow  shoes ;  but  I 
think  we  Avould  give  you  no  knife  or  pistol  in  your  belt, 
for  I  fancy  you  have  a  temper  of  your  own.  It  is  a  pity 
that  a  handsome  boy  like  you  should  be  so  fierce.  Per- 
haps we  might  even  arrange  that  you  were  fitted  to  at- 
tend on  the  women-folk.  In  any  case  you  will  be  mine — 
you  will  belong  to  your  good,  kind  masters.' " 

Yanni's  voice  had  risen,  and  he  spoke  quickly,  with  a 
red-hot  anger  vibrating  and  growing. 

''  He  said  it  to  me  !"  he  cried,  rising  to  his  feet.  "  To 
me— free-born  of  the  clan,  w^ho  have  never  had  any  deal- 
ings with  the  accursed  race,  except  to  spit  at  them  as 

249 


THE    VINTAGE 

they  went  by  !  And  I — I  sat  there  and  said  nothing,  but 
for  this  reason,  Mitsos,  that  I  remembered  the  oath  of 
the  clan  you  had  sworn,  and  I  believed,  as  I  believe  that 
the  holy  Mother  of  God  hears  me,  that  you  would  come, 
be  it  soon  or  late,  and  that  he  should  eat  his  words  with 
a  sauce  of  death  to  them — the  black  curse  of  her  who 
mocked  at  Christ  upon  him  !" 

'^  Steady,  Yanni !"  said  Mitsos,  looking  up  at  his  blaz- 
ing eyes.     "  Sit  down  and  tell  the  rest." 

^MVhat,  Mitsos,"  cried  Yanni,  "are  you  a  block  of 
stone  or  a  log,  you  who  are  of  blood  with  us  ?" 

*'  You  know  I  am  not.  But  Mehemet  Salik  is  not  on 
this  hill-side.  Tell  me  the  rest.  If  he  was  here  he  should 
never  more  return  to  the  bestialities  of  his  daily  life." 

Yanni  sat  down  again. 

**  Even  so.  Then  day  after  day  he  would  come  in  all 
white  and  cursing  as  before,  and  say,  '  The  time  is  draw- 
ing near,  my  little  Yanni.  They  will  be  here  to-morrow 
or  the  next  day,'  as  it  might  be.  And  yesterday  morn- 
ing he  said,  'They  will  be  here  to-night.'  And  I — for  I 
never  doubted  you,  Mitsos — I  thought  to  myself,  '  Then 
I  shall  not  be  here  to-night';  and  as  for  them,  I  knew 
that  they  would  never  sit  in  the  house  of  a  Turk.  And — 
and  that  is  all,  I  think." 

There  was  a  short  silence,  and  Yanni  stretched  out 
his  hand  to  Mitsos  : 

*'  So  to  you,  dearest  of  all,"  he  said,  "  I  owe  my  life — 
once  at  the  mill,  and  now,  once  again,  life  and  honor 
and  freedom.  Yet  is  the  debt  no  burden  to  me,  because 
I  love  you.  But  still  I  would  it  were  the  other  way.  I 
have  no  skill  of  speech,  Mitsos,  but  I  know  certainly  that 
gladly  would  I  give  my  eye  or  my  right  hand  for  you, 
and  this  is  no  figure  of  talk  only."' 

Mitsos  took  the  hand  held  out  to  him  and  shut  it  be- 
250 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

tween  his,  looking  at  Yanni  with  a  serious  mouth,  but 
a  smile  in  his  dark  eyes. 

"  God  send  me  tears  for  water  and  salt  for  bread," 
he  said,  again  quoting  the  oath  of  the  clan,  *Mf  I  fail 
you  in  your  need,  or  love  not  those  who  love  you  and 
hate  not  those  who  hate  you." 

The  sun  was  already  declining  to  the  western  hills,  and 
presently  after  they  went  down  to  the  spring  to  eat  and 
drink  before  they  began  the  tramp  through  the  night. 
Neither  of  them  had  been  over  this  ground  before,  but 
it  was  likely  that  they  would  soon  come  into  some  path 
leading  from  the  Arcadian  plain  to  one  or  other  of  the 
villages  near  the  Langarda  pass  ;  in  any  case,  even  though 
there  were  a  night's  plunging  through  the  heather  under- 
growth before  them,  it  could  scarcely  be  more  than  a 
twelve-hours'  journey.  Thus,  starting  at  six,  they  would 
be  at  the  place  by  dawn  ;  and,  after  stowing  the  remains 
of  their  provisions  in  their  pockets,  they  began  the  ascent. 

Upward  they  went  out  of  the  day  into  the  sunset,  and 
through  the  sunset  into  moonrise,  and  from  moonrise 
into  the  declining  of  the  moon.  The  air,  warm  below, 
soon  grew  colder,  and  their  breath,  as  they  walked,  hung 
frostily  in  the  still  night.  Now  and  then  a  whiff  of  s6me 
sweet  -  smelling  shrub  streamed  across  them,  or  again  a 
roosting  pigeon,  with  a  bold  noise  of  its  uprising,  started 
still  sleepy  from  its  perch  in  among  the  whispers  of  the  fir, 
or  a  hawk,  more  cautious,  slid  into  the  air.  To  Yanni, 
born  on  the  mountain  and  bred  in  the  open,  the  spell  of 
the  sounds  and  scents  that  wander  along  the  hill-side  at 
night  was  unutterably  sweet,  and  sweet  the  comradeship 
of  the  incomparable  cousin.  In  Mitsos,  too,  the  feeling 
towards  the  friend  he  had  saved  from  death,  and  worse 
than  death,  was  father  to  a  very  tender  affection,  for  it 
was  a  gentle  heart  that  beat  so  boldly  at  the  hint  of  dan-. 

251 


THE    VINTAGE 

ger,  and  the  sweetness  of  self-sacrifice  made  him  most 
content.  The  child  within  him  spoke  to  his  spirit  of 
Suleima,  but  the  boy  found  his  wants  fulfilled  in  the 
comradeship  of  Yanni,  and  made  answer  with  talk  of 
brave  adventures  done  in  part  and  more  to  do. 

About  midnight  they  halted,  and  already  they  could 
see  the  heights  no  long  distance  above  them,  dappled  with 
snow,  and  Mitsos,  observing  this,  knew  that  they  had 
come  as  high  as  they  had  need  to  go,  for  the  beacon- 
ground,  he  remembered,  was  itself  just  below  the  line 
where  the  fresh  snow  lay.  They  had,  an  hour  before, 
struck  a  sort  of  sheep-track  which  led  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, but  they  found  that  here  it  went  still  upward,  and 
leaving  it  to  climb  by  itself,  they  struck  oif  to  the  right, 
after  eating  the  remains  of  their  food,  to  follow  the  con- 
tour of  the  mountain  through  tracts  of  pines  and  open 
places,  and  across  the  scolding  streams  that  rattled  down 
from  the  snows  above,  and  round  deep  -  cut  ravines  that 
broadened  out  into  the  larger  valleys.  By  degrees  the 
stars  paled  at  the  approach  of  day,  and  the  dark  velvet- 
blue  of  the  Southern  night  brightened  to  dove-color ;  a 
few  birds  awoke  in  the  bushes  with  sleepy,  half-tuned 
twitterings,  and  then  the  sun,  great  and.  bold,  looked 
up  over  the  rim  of  the  mountain. 

"  Look,  it  is  day,"  said  Yanni.     '^  Are  we  nearly  there  ?'^ 

"Yes,"  said  Mitsos,  "there  is  the  beacon-hill.  And 
who  is  that  T' 

Swiftly  down  the  hill-side  towards  them  came  a  great 
man,  leaping  and  running  like  a  boy. 

"Oh,  quick,  down  with  you,"  said  Mitsos.  "I  think 
there  is  but  one  man  who  can  go  like  that;  but  it  is  best. 
Ah,  I  thought  so  ;  show  him  we  can  run,  too." 

And  in  two  minutes  Nicholas,  with  a  face  as  welcome 
as  morning,  was  with  them. 

352 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  MESSAGE   OF   FIRE 

The  Greek  camp  which  was  being  formed  here,  nestled 
airily  on  the  unfrequented  side  of  Taygetus,  was  square, 
half  of  it  lying  on  each  side  of  a  rattling  stream  (loud 
at  this  time  from  the  melting  snows)  which  flowed  down 
a  steep  ravine  into  the  plain  of  Kalamata.  It  lay  about 
five  hundred  yards  below  the  site  of  the  beacon,  a  con- 
spicuous and  stony  plateau  on  the  top  of  an  isolated  hill, 
separated  on  all  sides  by  steep,  narrow  gullies  from  the 
main  mass  of  the  mountain.  It  was  Nicholas  who  had 
chosen  the  spot,  and  chosen  wisely,  for  while  the  camp 
itself  lay  concealed  and  sheltered  from  the  northern 
winds,  the  top  of  the  hill  just  above  it,  from  which  a 
man  could  run  down  in  two  minutes  to  headquarters, 
was  an  eyry  for  observation.  On  the  north  it  command- 
ed the  Arcadian  plain,  the  corner  of  which  Mitsos  and 
Yanni  had  just  crossed  ;  on  the  west,  the  whole  valley  of 
Messenia,  with  its  capital,  Kalamata,  lay  unfurled  like  a 
map  ;  and  directly  under  it  to  the  south  wound  the  Lan- 
garda  pass  over  Taygetus  from  Messenia  to  Sparta. 

The  camp  was  walled  with  a  robust  barrier  of  brush- 
wood and  peopled  with  small  huts,  built  on  a  framework 
of  poles,  between  which  were  interwoven  branches  of  fir 
and  heather,  and  roofed  with  reeds  or  furze.  In  the 
centre,  just  on  the  right  of  the  stream,  stood  the  hut 
shared  by  Petrobey  and  Nicholas,  built  in  exactly  the 

253 


THE    VINTAGE 

same  manner  as  the  others,  and  only  distinguished  by 
a  blue -and- white  flag  which  floated  over  it,  bearing 
prophetically  the  cross  of  Greece  risen  above  the  cres- 
cent of  Turkey.  Towards  the  top  of  the  enclosure  had 
stood  a  belt  of  pines,  most  of  which  had  been  felled  for 
building  purposes,  one  here  and  there  only  having  been 
left  to  give  support  to  a  structure  of  much  more  solid 
and  weather-proof  workmanship.  It  was  divided  inside 
into  two  chambers,  in  one  of  which  were  stored  powder 
and  ammunition ;  in  the  other  the  rifles  and  swords.  Ad- 
ditional protection  was  given  to  the  powder-magazine  by 
a  coat  of  felt  which  was  nailed  on  above  the  boards  of 
its  roof. 

The  camp  was  all  alive  and  humming  like  a  hive  of 
bees  when  the  three  arrived,  for  a  train  of  mules  from 
the  district  round  which  Yanni  and  Mitsos  had  made 
their  first  journey  had  just  come  in,  bringing  the  secret 
grindings  of  the  mills  from  Kalyvia  and  Tsimova.  This 
was  the  first  consignment  of  powder  which  had  arrived, 
and  Petrobey  was  superintending  its  stowage  in  the  mag- 
azine. Elsewhere  the  thin  blue  smoke  of  wood  fires, 
over  which  men  were  cooking  their  coffee  for  breakfast, 
rose  up  straight  into  the  air,  and  the  flicking  and  flash- 
ing of  axes  in  the  morning  sun  showed  others  still  at 
work  on  pine-felling.  During  the  last  two  nights  many 
parties  of  the  clan  and  the  patriots  from  the  villages 
round  had  been  arriving  with  their  arms  and  provisions, 
and  a  herd  of  sheep  and  goats  were  browsing  on  the 
scrub-clad  sides  of  the  ravine  below  the  camp.  Already 
there  were  not  fewer  than  two  hundred  men  there,  and 
before  three  days  Petrobey  hoped  that  the  whole  depot, 
consisting  of  eight  hundred  men  with  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, would  be  assembled.  Farther  along  the  sides  of 
the  mountain  there  were  three  similar  camps,  and  thus 

254 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

the  total  number  of  men  who  would  march  down  from 
Tavgetus  onto  Kalamata  would  be  a  tale  of  over  three 
thousand.  These  were  all  drawn  from  Laconia,  Argolis, 
and  the  south  of  Arcadia,  and  the  number  would  be 
raised  to  close  on  five  thousand  by  additions  from  the 
populous  Messenian  plain.  The  patriots  in  the  north  of 
Greece  would,  at  the  beacon-signal,  rise  simultaneously 
in  Achaia  as  soon  as  the  camps  all  contained  their  com- 
plement of  men. 

In  the  camp  discipline  and  organization  were  thorough- 
ly ordered  and  carried  out.  A  body  of  the  younger  and 
more  active  were  stationed  on  the  top  of  the  hill  with  in- 
structions to  report  at  ouce  any  movement  they  might 
observe  in  the  country  round,  and  to  stop  vi  et  armis  any 
Turk  who  was  seen  going  up  the  pass  from  Messenia 
into  Sparta,  for  fear  of  news  being  taken  to  Tripoli  of 
the  assembling  of  the  patriots.  This  danger,  however, 
was  inconsiderable.  All  the  camps  were  nestled  away 
from  view  in  hollows  of  the  unvisited  mountain  -  sides, 
and  the  only  circumstance  of  suspicion  was  that  within 
a  few  days  many  Greeks  had  left  their  villages  with  laden 
mules,  and  with  their  flocks.  Even  this  was  not  unusual 
at  the  spring-time  of  the  year,  for  it  was  common,  when 
April  opened  up  the  hills,  to  drive  the  flocks  higher  up 
to  the  juicier  mountain  pasture,  where  the  shepherds 
would  spend  weeks  at  a  time  cutting  down  pines  and 
burning  them  for  charcoal.  But  this  flight  of  Petrobey 
and  Nicholas  and  the  escape  of  Yanni  might  easily  have 
become  a  signal  of  warning  to  the  Turks,  and  until  all 
was  ready  it  was  most  important  that  no  communication 
of  alarm  should  pass  from  Kalamata  to  Tripoli.  For 
the  last  few  weeks  the  fortification  of  Tripoli  had  been 
undergoing  repair,  and  it  was  evidently  expected  that  if 
a  rising  took  place  the  first  attack  would  be  directed 

255 


THE    VINTAGE 

there ;  or  at  any  rate  the  Turks  thought  it  was  safer  to 
have  some  fortress  in  a  fairly  central  position,  where  the 
families  of  their  countrymen  scattered  about  the  country 
could  take  refuge  from  local  disturbances. 

All  the  cattle,  all  the  arms,  the  mules  and  horses 
brought  to  the  camp,  were  put  under  the  disposal  of 
Petrobey.  As  he  was  the  head  of  the  clan  of  Mavro- 
michales,  of  whom  the  camp  was  chiefly  composed,  Nich- 
olas had  felt  it  better  that  he  should  have  absolute  su- 
premacy in  all  matters,  and,  as  he  had  said  to  Priketes, 
all  that  he  asked  for  himself  was  the  right  to  serve. 
Petrobey  was  loath  to  take  advantage  of  his  generosity, 
and  only  did  so  on  condition  that  Nicholas  would  prom- 
ise to  give  him  advice  and  counsel  on  all  points,  dissent 
from  him  freely  and  promptly  w^here  his  judgment  did 
not  coincide  with  his  own,  and  at  the  wish  of  his  men 
be  willing  himself  to  take  over  the  sole  command.  Mean- 
time, would  he  take  in  charge  the  outposts  and  messen- 
ger corps  of  the  camp,  on  which  devolved  the  duty  of 
watching  the  roads  and  of  carrying  news  from  one  camp 
to  another  ? 

Nicholas's  company  had  been  relieved  at  the  watch  on 
the  beacon  -  station  when  the  two  boys  arrived,  and  the 
three  went  together  to  Petrobey.  He  was  busy  with  the 
unlading  of  the  powder-carrying  mules  when  they  came  up, 
but  as  they  drew  near  he  saw  them  and  ran  towards  them. 

*^Now  the  Blessed  Virgin  be  praised,"  he  cried,  *^that 
you  have  come !  We  expected  you  earlier.  How  was  it 
you  did  not  come  before  ?  Ah,  Yanni,  but  your  father 
has  wearied  for  you !  Is  it  a  long  bill  we  have  with  Me- 
hemet  ?  Oh,  admirable  little  Mitsos,  the  Holy  Father 
reward  you  for  bringing  him  safe.  We  will  breakfast 
together  when  I  have  finished  this  job.  Get  you  to  my 
tent  with  Nicholas." 

256 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

The  unlading  of  the  powder  was  an  operation  in  which, 
so  Petrobey  thought,  no  caution  would  be  superfluous. 
It  arrived  in  big  mule  panniers,  covered  over  with  char- 
coal or  some  country  produce,  and  the  panniers  were 
taken  off  and  carried  singly  by  men  barefoot  into  the 
magazine.  Here  others  were  stationed,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  take  off  the  stuff  under  which  the  powder  was 
concealed  and  empty  it  into  small  skin  bottles,  which 
could  be  carried  by  a  man,  and  held  more  than  the  ordi- 
nary powder-flasks.  There  were  eight  hundred  of  these, 
one  for  each  man  in  the  camp,  and  when  they  were  full 
the  remainder  were  to  be  stored  in  light  wooden  boxes 
of  handier  shapes  than  the  panniers  for  transport  on  the 
ammunition  mules. 

All  day  fresh  bands  of  men  in  eights  and  tens  from  the 
Maina  country  arrived  in  camp,  and  news  was  passed 
from  the  other  stations  along  the  mountain -side  that 
they,  too,  were  filling  rapidly.  Among  others  fifty  men 
had  joined  the  patriots  from  Nauplia  and  the  plain  of 
Argos,  one  of  whom  was  Father  Andrea,  an  incarnated 
vengeance  more  than  priest,  and  another  was  Mitsos' 
father.  Mitsos  himself,  however,  was  to  remain  in  the 
camp  of  the  Mavromichales,  acting  as  aide-de-camp  to 
Nicholas,  but  otherwise  the  disposition  of  the  men  was 
strictly  geographical,  since  Petrobey's  experience  told 
him  that  men  who  have  known  each  other  fight  best  side 
by  side.  Each  camp  was  organized  on  the  pattern  of  the 
Mavromichales,  and  the  captains  of  each  had  voluntarily 
put  themselves  under  the  supreme  command  of  Petrobey, 
for  the  dissensions  which  subsequently  broke  out  in  the 
army  had  not  yet  appeared.  Moreover,  the  Hetairist 
Club,  since  the  flight  of  Prince  Alexander  Ypsilanti, 
had  given  express  orders  that  the  direction  of  affairs 
in  the  south  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  some  local  chief- 
R  257 


THE    VINTAGE 

tain,  suggesting  for  that  office  either  Petrobey  or  Nich- 
olas. 

A  week  passed,  and  the  camps  Avere  all  nearly  full,  and 
Petrobey  waited  impatiently  for  the  completion  of  his 
preparations.  Partly  by  extreme  caution,  and  partly  by 
good  luck,  there  had  as  yet  been  no  collision  with  the 
Turks,  and  apparently  no  uneasiness  felt  in  Kalamata.  A 
report  had  come  in  a  couple  of  days  before  that  two 
Turkish  ships  of  war  had  been  ordered  there  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  town,  and  to  carry  off  the  Turkish  inhabi- 
tants in  case  of  an  outbreak ;  but,  though  the  bay  was 
carefully  watched  by  those  on  the  beacon-point,  no  sign 
of  them  had  been  seen.  But  about  mid-day  on  the  2d  of 
April  a  scout  from  the  beacon  came  into  the  camp,  say- 
ing that  a  small  band  of  Turks,  twelve  in  number,  under 
arms,  and  followed  by  a  train  of  baggage  -  mules,  were 
coming  up  the  pass  from  Kalamata.  Petrobey's  answer 
was  short  and  decisive  :  '^  Stop  them  V  and  some  twenty 
men  were  sent  out  to  reinforce  the  oatpost  at  the  beacon. 
From  the  camp  nothing  could  be  seen  of  the  road,  but  a 
dozen  more  men  were  told  off  to  hold  themselves  in 
readiness.  Then  after  a  long  pause,  in  which  each  man's 
eyes  sought  the  eyes  of  his  fellow  in  a  fever  of  expecta- 
tion, shots  were  heard,  and  in  half  an  hour's  time  the 
message  came  back  to  Petrobey  ancf  Nicholas,  who  were 
at  dinner,  that  they  had  been  stopped. 

Then  Petrobey  rose,  and  his  gray  eye  Avas  fire. 

*' At  last,  at  last !"  he  cried.  ''Oh,  Nicholas,  the  vin- 
tage is  ripe  !" 

He  waited  no  longer.  Yanni,  who  was  his  aide-de- 
camp, was  despatched  at  top  speed  to  the  next  station, 
with  orders  that  an  hour  before  sunset  the  army  was  to 
start  on  its  march  to  Kalamata,  and  all  the  afternoon  the 
stir  of  going  was  shrill.     The  clan  were  half  wild  with 

258 


THE    EVE     OF    THE    GATHEKING 

excitement  and  eagerness ;  but  all  were  absolutely  in 
control,  and  went  about  their  duties  methodically  and  in 
perfect  order,  and  the  work  of  lading  and  marshalling 
the  ammunition  and  baggage-mules  was  finished  by  four 
o'clock.  Meanwhile  another  party  had  carried  up  to  the 
top  of  the  hill  the  fuel  for  the  beacon,  which  Petrobey 
had  arranged  was  to  be  the  signal,  not  only  across  to  the 
hill  above  Bassae,  but  to  the  patriots  collected  lower  down 
in  the  villages  of  the  Messenian  plain.  Mitsos,  who  was 
charged  with  the  lighting  of  it,  was  to  let  loose  the  tongue 
of  fire  which  should  shout  the  Avord  all  over  Greece  as 
soon  as  dark  fell,  and  then  follow  straight  down  the 
hill-side  after  the  main  body.  The  whole  disposition  of 
the  force  round  Kalamata,  and  the  routes  by  which,  con- 
verging as  they  went,  they  were  to  march  there,  had  been 
already  arranged,  and  by  five  o^clock  the  clan  set  out, 
spreading  themselves  in  open  order  over  the  hill -side, 
the  mules  alone  following  the  road  of  the  pass,  so  as  to 
prevent  any  one  leaving  the  town  by  other  mountain- 
paths  over  Taygetus. 

As  soon  as  the  clan  had  started,  Mitsos,  left  to  him- 
self, ate  his  supper,  and  sat  down  to  wait  till  the  dark- 
ness of  the  birthnight  of  Greece  should  fall.  It  had 
been  a  hot,  sultry  day,  with  a  heavy  air,  and  he  had 
packed  up  and  sent  on  with  the  mules  a  heavy  wool- 
len cloak,  which  Nicholas  had  given  him  to  replace  the 
one  he  had  left  behind  in  his  race  to  Tripoli,  and  was 
dressed  only  in  his  linen  trousers,  shirt,  and  open  Albani- 
an jacket.  The  still  air  hung  like  a  blanket  on  the  moun- 
tain-side, but  he  saw  that  clouds  had  gathered  on  the 
top  of  Taygetus  and  were  moving  down  westward  in  the 
direction  of  the  camp.  But  they  remained  as  yet  high, 
and  though  before  sunset  they  had  stretched  right  over 
from  the  mountain-top  behind  to  the  peak  of  Ithome  in 

359 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  west,  a  gray  floor  of  mottled  marble,  flushed  here 
and  there,  where  they  were  thinner,  with  the  reflected 
fire  of  an  angry  sunset,  the  northern  heaven  was  still 
clear,  and  his  beacon -point  close  above  him  stood  out 
black  and  sharp-cut.  Long  before  dark  fell  he  had  al- 
ready been  up  to  the  beacon,  in  order  to  arrange  the 
brushwood  and  firing  most  handily ;  the  lighter  and 
drier  wood  he  put  on  the  windward  side,  so  that  such 
breeze  as  there  was  might  drive  the  flames  inward 
against  the  larger  bushes,  which  would  take  the  flame 
less  easily.  He  also  tore  a  quantity  of  dry  moss  from  the 
sides  of  a  couple  of  plane-trees,  which  grew  to  the  lee- 
ward of  the  hill,  and  made  a  core  of  this  within  the 
brushwood,  adding  a  train,  in  the  manner  of  a  fuse,  lead- 
ing outward  to  where  he  would  apply  the  light.  He  had 
just  finished  this  to  his  satisfaction,  and  was  about  to 
return  to  the  camp  to  fetch  up  the  burning  lumps  of  char- 
coal which  he  had  fed  during  the  afternoon,  and  which 
in  this  wind  that  had  sprung  up  would  soon  kindle  the 
moss  into  flame,  when  a  few  large  raindrops  fell  splash- 
ing on  the  ground,  and  he  hurriedly  covered  the  dry, 
tinder-like  furze  with  thick  branches  of  pine,  in  order  to 
keep  it  protected;  then  for  a  few  moments  the  rain 
ceased  again,  but  Mitsos,  looking  up,  saw  that  the  clouds 
had  grown  black  and  swollen  with  an  imminent  down- 
pour, and  that  the  storm  might  break  any  minute.  His 
next  thought  was  for  the  burning  charcoal  below,  and  he 
ran  quickly  down  the  hill-side  in  order  to  carry  it  under 
cover  of  the  ammunition  magazine ;  but  before  he  had 
gone  fifty  yards  the  storm  broke  in  a  sheet  of  hissing 
rain,  driven  a  little  aslant  in  the  wind — but  for  heaviness 
a  shower  of  lead.  However,  in  hopes  of  saving  the  char- 
coal, he  ran  on,  and  raking  about  in  the  embers  of  his 
fire,  already  turning  to  a  black  slush  under  the  volley- 

260 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

iiig  rain,  lie  found  a  lump  of  charcoal  not  yet  extinguish- 
ed. Then  sheltering  it  in  his  cap,  he  nursed  it  tenderly, 
and  carried  it  into  the  ammunition  magazine.  There 
he  sat  for  half  an  hour,  and  from  it  managed  to  kindle  a 
few  more  lumps,  while  the  noise  of  the  rain  continued  as 
of  musketry  on  the  resounding  roof.  Then  looking  out 
he  saw  that  night  had  come,  heavy  and  lowering. 

The  position  was  sufficiently  critical.  The  beacon  fuel 
would  be  soaked,  and  the  dry  kindling  in  the  centre,  he 
thought,  would  be  insufficient  to  start  a  blaze.  Then  he 
remembered  a  flask  of  spirits  which  Petrobey  had  told 
him  to  keep  with  him  in  case  of  emergency,  and  he  ran 
across  to  fetch  it  from  his  hut.  The  clouds  had  lifted  a 
little,  though  the  downpour  was  still  heavy ;  but,  looking 
up,  he  still  saw  the  outline  of  the  beacon-hill  a  shade 
blacker  than  the  sky,  showing  that  it  was  clear,  at  any 
rate,  of  mists.  He  groped  about  the  walls  of  the  hut  for 
some  little  time  before  finding  the  flask,  and  just  as  he 
put  his  hand  on  it  the  wind  fell  dead,  the  rain  stopped  as 
when  a  tap  is  turned  back,  and  in  the  stillness  he  heard 
the  sound  of  the  footstep  of  some  man  unfamiliarly  stum- 
bling up  the  stony  hill -side  just  below.  At  that  he 
stopped,  and  then  creeping  cautiously  to  the  entrance  of 
the  hut,  peered  out.  He  could  see  nothing ;  but  the 
step  still  advanced,  drawing  nearer. 

Who  could  it  be  ?  It  was  hardly  possible,  though  still 
just  possible,  that  this  man  was  some  Greek  of  the  clan 
— yet  such  would  surely  have  shouted  to  him — coming 
from  Petrobey  with  a  message,  or  it  might  be  some 
benighted  peasant ;  yet,  again,  for  fear  it  might  be  a 
Turk  he  must  needs  go  carefully,  and  with  redoubled 
caution  he  crept  out  of  the  hut,  still  keeping  in  the 
shadow,  and  looked  round  the  corner.  Whether  it  was 
the  rustle  of  his  moving  in  the  dead  silence,  or  the  faint 

261 


THE    VINTAGE 

shimmering  of  his  white  trousers  in  the  darkness,  that 
betrayed  him,  was  only  a  thing  for  conjecture,  but  the 
next  moment,  from  some  fifty  yards  in  front,  he  ,saw  the 
flash  of  a  gun,  and  a  bullet  sang  viciously  by  him,  crack- 
ing in  half  one  of  the  upright  posts  which  bound  the 
sides  of  the  hut  together.  Mitsos  stood  up,  as  he  knew 
he  was  seen,  and  called  out,  cocking  his  pistol,  yet  see- 
ing no  one,  ^'^  Speak,  or  I  fire,'^  and  in  answer  he  heard 
the  sound  of  another  charge  being  rammed  home.  At 
that  he  bolted  back  round  the  corner  of  the  tent  and 
waited.  The  steps  advanced  closer ;  clearly  the  man, 
whoever  he  was,  finding  that  he  did  not  fire,  concluded 
that  he  had  no  arms  —  the  truth,  however,  being  that 
Mitsos,  having  seen  nothing  but  the  flash  of  the  gun, 
thought  it  more  prudent  to  wait  until  he  had  a  more 
localized  target.  But  presently  the  steps  paused,  and 
after  a  moment  he  heard  them  retreating  with  doubled 
quickness  up  the  hill  towards  the  pass.  Then  a  solution 
flashed  upon  him — this  could  be  no  patriot,  nor  would  a 
wandering  peasant  have  fired  at  him ;  it  could  only  be 
some  Turk  who  had  seen  the  Greek  army  advancing,  had 
somehow  eluded  them,  and  was  going  hotfoot  to  Sparta 
with  the  news.  He  must  be  stopped  at  all  costs,  and 
next  moment  Mitsos  was  stretched  in  pursuit  up  the  hill 
after  him,  keeping  as  much  as  possible  in  the  cover  of 
the  trees.  Clearly  the  man  had  missed  his  way  in  the 
darkness,  and  had  come  unexpectedly  upon  the  Greek 
camp,  and  seeing  some  one  there  had  fired. 

In  three  minutes  or  so  Mitsos'  long  legs  had  gained 
considerably  on  him,  and  he  now  saw  him,  though 
duskily,  with  his  gun  on  his  shoulder  still  making  up 
the  hill.  Another  minute  saw  them  within  about  fifty 
yards  of  each  other ;  but  Mitsos  had  the  advantage  of 
position,  for  while  he   was  running  between  scattered 

263 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

trees  the  other  was  in  the  open.  He  apparently  recog- 
nized this,  and  changed  his  course  towards  the  belt  of 
wood ;  but  then  suddenly,  seeing  Mitsos  so  near,  he 
halted  and  fired,  and  Mitsos  felt  the  bullet  just  graze 
his  arm.  On  that  he  ran  forward,  while  the  man  still 
stayed  reloading  his  piece,  and  sent  a  pistol  bullet  at 
him.  The  shot  went  wide,  and  Mitsos  with  a  grunt  of 
rage  ran  desperately  on  to  close  with  him.  But  the 
other,  while  he  was  still  some  yards  distant,  finished 
loading,  and  his  gun  was  already  on  the  way  to  his 
shoulder,  when  Mitsos,  partly  in  mere  animal  fury  at  the 
imminence  of  death,  but  in  part  with  reasonable  aim, 
took  hold  of  his  heavy  pistol  by  the  barrel  and  flung  it 
with  all  his  force  in  the  Turk's  face.  He  reeled  for  a 
moment,  and,  the  blood,  like  the  red  of  morning,  stream- 
ing over  his  face  in  a  torrent  that  blinded  him,  Mitsos 
was  on  him  and  had  closed  with  him.  When  it  came  to 
mere  physical  strength  the  odds  were  vastly  in  his  favor, 
and  in  a  moment,  in  the  blind  gust  of  the  fury  of  fight- 
ing, he  wrested  the  man's  gun  from  him  and,  without 
thinking  of  firing,  had  banged  him  over  the  head  with 
the  butt  end.  He  fell  with  a  sound  of  breaking,  and 
Mitsos,  still  drunk  and  beside  himself  with  the  lust  of 
slaughter,  laughed  loud  and  hit  him  again  with  his  full 
force  as  he  lay  on  the  ground.  There  was  a  crack,  and  a 
spurt  of  something  warm  and  thick  came  out  in  a  jet 
against  his  trousers  and  over  his  hand.  He  paused  only 
one  moment  to  make  sure  that  this  was  a  Turk  he  had 
killed,  and  then  without  giving  him  another  thought,  or 
waiting  to  brush  the  clotted  mess  off  his  clothes,  he 
ran  down  again  to  set  about  the  beacon. 

The  wound  on  his  arm  was  but  slight,  though  it  bled 
profusely  and  smarted  like  a  burn,  and  only  stopping  to 
tear  off  a  piece  from  his  shirt  -  sleeve,  which  he  bound 

263 


THE    VINTAGE 

tightly  round  it,  tying  the  knot  with  his  teeth  and  his 
right  hand,  he  again  put  the  charcoal,  which  was  burn- 
ing well,  into  his  cap,  and  with  the  flask  of  brandy  set 
off  for  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  rain  had  come  on  again, 
hissing  down  in  torrents,  and  Mitsos,  knowing  that  the 
fear  of  failure  strode  faster  every  moment,  tore  the  cover 
of  boughs  off  from  the  core  of  moss  and  furze,  but  found 
to  his  dismay  it  was  quite  damp  and  would  not  light. 
It  was  necessary  to  get  a  flame  somehow ;  the  spirits  and 
the  moss  would  do  the  rest  if  once  he  could  get  that ; 
and  to  get  a  flame,  he  must  have  something  dry,  though 
it  were  but  a  twig.  There  was  no  time  to  waste  ;  already 
a  big  raindrop  had  made  an  ominous  black  spot  on  the 
middle  of  the  glowing  charcoal,  and  meantime  every- 
thing was  getting  rapidly  wetter.  In  a  moment  of  hope- 
lessness he  clutched  at  his  hair  despairingly ;  the  thing 
seemed  an  impossibility. 

Then  suddenly  an  idea  struck  him,  and,  tearing  off  his 
jacket,  he  removed  his  shirt,  which  had  been  kept  quite 
dry,  and  kneeling  down  with  his  back  bare  to  the  cold, 
scourging  rain  put  the  two  lumps  of  charcoal  in  the 
folds  of  it  and  blew  on  them.  For  a  couple  of  seconds 
the  linen  smouldered  only,  but  then  —  and  no  Angel 
Gabriel  would  have  been  a  gladder  sight  to  him — a  little 
tongue  of  flame  shot  up.  Mitsos  took  the  brandy  bottle, 
and  with  the  utmost  care  shook  out  a  few  drops  onto 
the  edge  of  the  flame.  These  it  licked  up,  burning 
brighter,  and  soon  the  whole  of  the  back  of  the  shirt 
took  the  fire.  He  crammed  it  under  the  thick  core  of 
moss  and  brushwood,  and  feeding  them  plentifully  with 
brandy  coaxed  the  flame  into  the  driest  part  of  the  stuff. 
Now  and  then  a  little  spark  would  go  running  like  some 
fiery  insect  through  the  fibres,  leaving  a  gray  path  of  ash 
behind,  on]y  to  perish  when  it  reached  the  damper  stuff, 

264 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHERING 

and  once  even  the  flame  seemed  to  die  down  altogether ; 
but  meantime  it  had  penetrated  into  the  centre  of  the 
pile,  and  suddenly  a  yellow  blade  of  smoky  fire  leaped 
out  and  licked  the  dripping  branches  of  fir  outside. 
These  only  fumed  and  cracked,  and  Mitsos  pulled  them 
off,  for  they  were  but  choking  the  flames  ;  and,  running 
down  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  he  tore  up  great  handfuls 
of  undergrowth,  which  had  been  partially  protected  from 
the  rain  by  the  trees,  and  threw  them  on.  Then  the  fire 
began  to  take  hold  in  earnest,  and  through  the  thick 
volumes  of  stinging  smoke,  which  were  streaming  away 
westward,  shot  lurid  gleams  of  flame.  Now  and  then 
with  a  great  crash  and  puff  of  vapor  some  thicker  branch 
of  timber  would  split  and  break,  throwing  out  a  cloud  of 
ignited  fragments,  or  again  there  would  rise  up  a  hissing 
and  simmering  of  damp  leaves,  like  the  sound  of  a  great 
stewing  over  a  hot  fire.  The  place  where  he  had  first  lit 
the  beacon  was  all  consumed,  and  only  a  heap  of  white 
frothy  ash,  every  now  and  then  flushing  red  again  with 
half  -  consumed  particles  as  some  breeze  fanned  it,  re- 
mained, and  from  the  flr  branches  which  Mitsos  had 
taken  off  ten  minutes  ago,  but  now  replaced,  as  every 
moment  the  hold  of  the  fire  grew  steadier,  there  were 
bursting  little  fan-shaped  bouquets  of  flame. 

Meantime,  with  the  skin  of  his  chest  down  to  the  band 
of  his  trousers  reddened  and  scorched  by  the  heat,  his 
back  cold  and  dripping,  and  lashed  with  the  heavy  whisp 
of  rain  which  had  so  belabored  him  in  those  first  few 
moments  of  struggle  between  fire  and  water,  his  hair 
tangled  and  steaming  with  heat  and  shower,  his  eyes 
blackened  and  burned  with  the  firing,  Mitsos  worked 
like  a  man  struggling  for  life  ;  now  pushing  a  half-burned 
branch  back  into  the  fire  ;  now  lifting  a  new  bundle  of 
fuel  (as  much  as  he  could  carry  in  both   arms),  which 

265 


THE    VINTAGE 

pricked  and  scratched  the  scorched  and  bleeding  skin  of 
his  chest ;  now  glancing  northward  to  see  whether 
Bassae  had  answered  him.  With  the  savage  frenzy  of 
his  haste,  the  excitement  of  the  deed,  and  the  fury  and 
madness  of  the  blood  he  had  shed  dancing  in  his  black 
eyes,  he  looked  more  like  some  ancient  Greek  spirit  of 
the  mountains  than  the  lover  of  Suleima  and  the  boy 
who  was  so  tender  for  Yanni. 

In  ten  minutes  more  the  rain  had  stopped,  but  Mitsos 
still  labored  on  until  the  heat  of  the  beacon  was  so  great 
that  he  could  scarcely  approach  to  throw  on  the  fresh 
fuel.  The  flames  leaped  higher  and  higher,  and  the 
wind  dropping  a  shower  of  red-hot  pieces  of  half-burned 
leaves  and  bark  was  continually  carried  upward,  peopling 
the  night  with  fiery  sparks  and  falling  round  him  in 
blackened  particles,  or  floating  away  a  feathery  white 
ash  like  motes  in  a  sunbeam.  And  as  he  stood  there, 
grimy  and  panting,  scorched  and  chilled,  throwing  new 
bundles  of  fuel  onto  the  furnace,  and  seeing  them  smoke 
and  fizz  and  then  break  out  flaring,  the  glory  and  the 
splendor  of  the  deeds  he  was  helping  in  burst  in  upon 
him  with  one  blinding  flash  that  banished  other  memo- 
ries, and  for  the  moment  even  Suleima  was  but  the 
shadow  of  a  shadow.  The  beacon  he  had  kindled  seemed 
to  illuminate  the  depths  of  his  soul,  and  he  saw  by  its 
light  the  cruelty  and  accursed  lusts  of  the  hated  race 
and  the  greatness  of  the  freedom  that  was  coming. 
Then,  blackened  and  burned  and  sodden  and  drenched, 
he  sat  down  for  a  few  moments  to  the  north  of  the 
beacon  to  get  his  breath  and  scoured  the  night.  Was 
that  a  star  burning  so  low  on  the  horizon  ?  Surely  it  was 
too  red  for  a  star,  and  on  such  a  night  what  stars  could 
pierce  the  clouds  ?  Besides,  was  not  that  a  mountain 
which  stood  up  dimly  behind  it  ?     Then  presently  after 

266 


THE    EVE    OF    THE    GATHEKING 

it  grew  and  glowed ;  it  was  no  star,  but  the  fiery  mouth  of 
message  shouting  north  and  south.    Bessae  had  answered. 

There  was  still  a  little  spirits  left,  and  between  his 
wetting  and  his  scorching  Mitsos  felt  that  he  would  be 
none  the  worse  for  it,  and  he  left  his  jacket  to  dry  by  the 
beacon  while  he  went  back  to  where  the  body  of  the 
Turkish  soldier  lay  to  look  for  his  pistol,  which  he  had 
till  then  forgotten.  He  searched  about  for  some  little 
while  without  finding  it,  for  it  had  fallen  in  a  tangle  of 
undergrowth ;  and  taking  it  and  the  man's  gun,  which 
might  come  in  useful,  he  turned  to  go.  Then  for  the 
first  time  a  sudden  feeling  of  compassion  came  over  him, 
and  he  broke  oif  an  armful  of  branches  from  the  trees 
round,  and  threw  them  over  the  body  in  order  to  cover  it 
from  the  marauding  feeders  of  the  mountain ;  and  then 
crossing  himself,  as  the  Greeks  do  in  the  presence  of  the 
dead,  he  turned  away ;  and  going  once  more  up  to  the 
beacon  to  fetch  his  jacket,  which  had  grown  dry  and  al- 
most singed  in  that  fierce  heat,  he  ran  off  down  the  hill 
to  join  the  clan. 

They  had  gone  but  slowly,  for  they  did  not  wish  to 
reach  Kalamata  till  an  hour  before  daybreak,  and  had, 
when  Mitsos  came  up,  halted  at  the  bottom  of  the  range 
where  the  foot-hills  begin  to  rise  towards  Taygetus.  He 
was  challenged  by  one  of  the  sentries,  and  for  reply 
shouted  his  own  name  to  them ;  and  finding  Demetri 
was  his  challenger,  stopped  to  tell  him  of  the  success  of 
the  beacon  and  the  answer  flared  back  from  Bassae,  and 
then  went  on  to  seek  for  Nicholas  or  Petrobey  to  report 
his  return. 

Petrobey  was  sitting  by  a  camp-fire  when  he  came  up, 
talking  earnestly  to  Nicholas  and  Father  Andrea,  who 
had  come  in  from  the  Nauplia  contingent,  and  only 
smiled  at  Mitsos  as  he  entered. 

267 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  That  is  the  order,  father/''  he  was  saying ;  ''  we  want 
to  take  the  place  at  all  costs,  but  the  less  it  costs  us  the 
better.  I  should  prefer  if  it  capitulated,  and  not  waste 
lives  which  we  can  ill  spare  over  it.  All  the  Turks  in- 
side the  walls  will  be  our  prisoners,  and  them — " 

"Yes?" 

"Perhaps  the  moon  will  devour  them,"  said  Petrobey. 
"I  shall  make  no  conditions  about  surrender.  Good- 
night, father.  And  now,  little  Mitsos ;  the  beacon,  we 
know,  got  lit.  How  in  the  name  of  the  Virgin  did  you 
manage  to  do  it  ?" 

Mitsos  unbuttoned  his  jacket  and  showed  the  sore  and 
reddened  skin  beneath. 

"There  is  much  in  a  shirt,"  he  said,  laughing,  and 
told  his  story. 

When  he  had  finished  Petrobey  looked  at  Nicholas 
with  wonder  and  something  like  awe  in  his  eye. 

"  Surely  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Saints  is  on  the  lad," 
he  said,  in  a  low  voice. 


f)art  Him 
THE    TREADING    OF   THE   GRAPES 


CHAPTER  I 
TE   DEUM   LAUDAMUS 

DuRiN"G  the  night  the  wind  swept  the  floor  of  heaven 
clean  of  clouds,  and  an.  hour  of  clear  starlight  and  set- 
ting moon  preceded  dawn.  Before  starting,  after  an 
hour's  halt  about  midnight,  Petrobey  called  together  the 
captains  of  the  other  three  camps  and  gave  them  their 
final  instructions.  Three  companies,  those  from  Maina, 
Argolis,  and  Laconia,  were  to  besiege  the  citadel,  while 
the  company  from  Arcadia  was  to  join  the  two  from 
Messenia,  which  would  meet  them  on  the  plain,  and 
invest  the  harbor,  destroy  all  the  shipping  except  three 
or  four  light  -  built  boats  which  were  to  be  kept  in  read- 
iness for  other  purposes,  and  watch  for  the  coming  of 
the  two  Turkish  ships -of -war.  The  Messenians,  with 
a  loyal  and  patriotic  spirit,  had  asked  Petrobey  to  name 
them  a  captain  for  the  three  companies  which  would  be 
employed  on  this  work,  instead  of  pressing  a  local  candi- 
date ;  and  in  order  to  prevent  jealousy  or  dissent  among 
them,  he  nominated  one  Niketas,  of  Sparta,  who  was  well 
known  to  most  of  the  men,  popular,  and  had  seen  ser- 
vice on  an  English  ship,  where  he  had  worked  for  two 
years  abroad,  for  a  price  had  been  placed  on  his  head  by 
the  Turks  for  supposed  brigandage.  He  had  returned 
to  his  country  a  month  ago  from  the  Ionian  Isles,  and 
had  hastened  to  put  himself  in  the  service  of  the  patriots. 

The  citadel  of  Kalamata  stood  on  rising  ground  about 
371 


THE    VINTAGE 

a  mile  from  the  harbor,  but  it  was  small,  and  a  large,  un- 
fortified suburb,  chiefly  employed  in  commerce  and  the 
silk  industry,  had  spread  out  southward  from  its  base, 
making  a  continuous  street  between  harbor  and  citadel. 
The  latter  was  defended  by  a  complete  circuit  of  wall, 
and  on  three  sides  out  of  the  four  the  rocks  on  the  edge 
of  which  the  walls  stood  were  precipitous  for  some  thirty 
feet.  Under  the  western  of  these,  and  directly  below  the 
wall,  ran  a  torrent-bed,  bringing  down  the  streams  from 
the  mountains  to  the  north — dry  in  summer,  but  now 
flowing  full  and  turbid  with  the  melting  of  the  winter 
snows  on  the  heights.  On  this  side  the  town  was  im- 
pregnable to  the  Greeks,  who  at  present  had  no  field- 
pieces  or  arms  of  any  kind  larger  than  the  ordinary  mus- 
kets then  in  use,  and  similarly  it  would  have  been  waste 
of  time  and  lives  to  attack  it  either  on  the  north  or  east. 
On  the  north,  however,  was  a  picket -gate  in  the  wall, 
communicating  with  a  steep  flight  of  steps  cut  in  the 
rock.  Petrobey's  plan,  therefore,  was  to  take  possession 
at  once  of  the  lower  undefended  town  and  blockade  the 
citadel  from  that  side,  for  thus  with  a  body  of  men  to 
guard  the  northern  picket,  the  east  and  west  sides  being 
impassable  both  from  within  and  without,  the  blockade 
would  be  complete.  Meantime  the  three  companies,  con- 
sisting of  Messenians  and  Arcadians,  would  cut  off  the 
harbor  from  the  town,  leaving  the  Mainats,  Argives,  and 
Laconians  to  deal  with  the  citadel  itself. 

When  day  broke  the  secrecy  of  their  advance  was  fa- 
vored by  a  thick  mist,  which  rose  some  ten  feet  high  from 
the  plain,  and  under  cover  of  this,  manoeuvring  in  some 
fields  about  a  mile  eastward  from  the  town,  the  army 
split  in  two,  and  one  half  marched  straight  down  to  the 
shore  of  the  bay,  and  from  there,  turning  along  the  coast, 
ranged  itself  along  the  harbor  shore  and  on  the  break- 

372 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

water,  made  of  large  rough  blocks  of  stone,  which  shel- 
tered the  harbor  from  southerly  winds,  and  the  other 
three,  leaving  the  citadel  on  their  right  hand,  went 
straight  for  the  lower  town.  Half  an  hour  afterwards 
the  heat  of  the  sun  began  to  disperse  the  morning  mists, 
and  as  they  got  to  the  outskirts  of  the  town  the  vast  va- 
por was  rolled  away,  and  the  sentries  on  the  citadel  look- 
ing out  southward  saw  three  companies  of  soldiers  not 
half  a  mile  off.  The  alarm  was  given  at  once  and  spread 
through  the  lower  town  like  fire.  From  all  the  houses 
rushed  out  men,  women,  and  children,  some  still  half 
clad  or  just  awakened  from  their  morning  sleep,  mothers 
with  babies  in  their  arms,  and  old  men  almost  as  helpless, 
who  ran  this  way  and  that  in  the  first  panic  terror,  but 
gradually  settled  down  into  two  steady  streams — the  one 
up  to  the  citadel  to  find  refuge  there,  the  other  to  the 
harbor  to  seek  means  of  flight.  But  the  army  came  on 
in  silence,  making  its  way  slowly  up  the  narrow  streets 
towards  the  citadel,  without  being  attacked  by  the  terri- 
fied and  unarmed  inhabitants,  and  in  its  turn  neither 
striking  a  blow  nor  firing  a  shot.  Two  companies  only 
had  entered  the  town,  the  third  remaini*ng  on  the  out- 
skirts to  the  east,  acting  like  a  "  stop  '^  in  cover-shooting, 
to  drive  the  inhabitants  back  again,  lest  any  should  con- 
vey the  alarm  to  Tripoli. 

From  the  west  of  the  town  a  bridge  led  over  the  tor- 
rent, and  here  Petrobey  stationed  some  hundred  men 
to  prevent  any  one  leaving  the  town  across  the  river ; 
but  before  long,  wishing  to  concentrate  all  his  forces 
in  the  town,  Yanni  was  sent  to  the  party  picketed  there 
with  orders  to  destroy  the  bridge.  This  was  made  of 
wood,  but  preparations  were  in  hand  for  replacing  it 
with  one  of  iron,  and  several  girders  were  lying  about 
on  the  bank  for  the  approaching  work.  With  one  of 
8  273 


THE    VINTAGE 

these  as  a  lever,  and  twenty  men  to  work  it,  it  was  an 
affair  of  ten  minutes  only  to  prize  up  some  half-dozen 
planks  of  the  wooden  structure,  and  after  that  to  saw 
in  half  a  couple  of  the  timber  poles  on  which  it  rested. 
The  bridge  thus  weakened  drooped  towards  the  water, 
and  soon  was  caught  by  the  swift  stream  below.  Then, 
as  some  monstrous  fish  plucks  at  a  swimmer's  limbs,  it 
twitched  and  fretted  against  the  remaining  portion,  and 
soon  with  a  rush  and  swirl  of  timbers  and  planks  it  tore 
away  a  gap  of  some  twenty  feet  across,  sufficient  to  stop 
any  would-be  fugitives. 

Here  and  there  in  their  passage  up  the  town  a  house 
was  shut  and  barred  against  them,  but  for  the  most  part 
the  inhabitants  streamed  out  like  ants  when  their  hill  is 
disturbed.  Once  only  was  resistance  offered,  when  from 
the  upper  window  of  a  house  a  Turk  fired  upon  the  sol- 
diers, killing  one  man  ;  and  Petrobey,  heading  a  charge 
himself,  burst  in  the  door,  and  a  couple  of  shots  were 
heard  from  inside.  Then,  without  a  word,  he  and  the 
three  others  who  had  gone  in  with  him  took  their  places 
again,  and  the  column  moved  forward  up  the  street. 

The  square  of  the  lower  town  stood  just  at  the  base 
of  the  rising  ground  leading  up  to  the  citadel,  and  on 
its  north  side  was  built  a  row  of  big  silk-mills,  all  of 
which  had  been  deserted  by  their  owners  on  the  first 
alarm,  and  in  these  the  Maina  division  took  up  its  quar- 
ters. As  soon  as  they  and  the  Argives  had  made  their  pas- 
sage through  the  town,  driving  the  inhabitants  up  into  the 
citadel,  or  down  to  the  harbor,  where  they  were  taken 
by  the  Messenian  division,  Petrobey  sent  to  the  Laco- 
nian  corps,  who  had  been  acting  as  a  ^^stop"  on  the 
east  to  prevent  the  people  escaping  into  the  country, 
and  brought  them  up  on  the  right  to  complete  the  line 
which  they  had  drawn  along  the  south  front  of  the  cit- 

274 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

adel.  The  Argive  corps,  meantime,  had  been  divided 
into  two,  one-half  of  which  blockaded  the  picket-gate 
on  the  north,  while  the  other  was  drawn  up  on  the  left 
of  the  Mainats,  between  them  and  the  river.  This  done, 
the  blockade  of  the  citadel  was  complete ;  on  the  west 
the  besieged  were  hemmed  in  by  their  own  impregnable 
rock,  below  which  ran  the  current ;  on  the  south  and 
southeast  by  the  Greek  army ;  on  the  east  again  by  the 
precipitous  crags  ;  and  on  the  north  their  escape  through 
the  picket-gate  was  impracticable,  owing  to  the  detach- 
ment of  Argives  guarding  it. 

Three  courses  were  open  to  them  :  to  make  a  sortie 
as  soon  as  the  expected  Turkish  ships  would  appear  and 
regain  communication  with  the  sea ;  or,  by  engaging 
and  defeating  the  Greeks,  establish  connection  with 
Tripoli ;  or  to  support  the  siege  until  help  came.  In  the 
utter  confusion  and  panic  caused  by  the  sudden  appear- 
ance of  the  Greeks  the  inhabitants  had  simply  fled  like 
a  quail-flock,  and  the  citadel  was  crammed  with  a  crowd 
of  unarmed  civilians.  Each  thought  only  for  himself 
and  his  own  personal  protection.  Mixed  in  this  crowd 
of  fugitives  had  been  hundreds  of  Greek  residents — some 
of  w^iom,  possessed  merely  by  the  wild  force  of  panic 
and  without  waiting  to  think  what  this  army  was,  had 
rushed  blindly  with  the  others  into  the  citadel ;  but  the 
larger  number  had  joined  their  countrymen  —  men, 
women,  and  children  together  —  imploring  protection 
with  horrible  tales  of  outrage  and  cruelty  on  their  lips. 
All  those  w4io  were  fit  for  active  service  and  willing 
Petrobey  enlisted,  and  employed  them  in  making  a  more 
careful  search  through  the  town  for  any  Turks  who 
might  remain  in  hiding.  These  were  not  to  be  killed 
or  ill-treated,  but  merely  kept  as  prisoners.  But  the  wild 
vengeance  of  those  who  had  so  long  been  slaves  burst 

275 


THE    VINTAGE 

all  bounds  when  they  saw  their  masters  in  their  power, 
and  all  who  were  found  were  secretly  put  to  death. 

The  weakness  of  the  citadel  lay  in  its  bad  water  sup- 
ply. There  was  only  one  well  in  the  place,  and  that  was 
not  nearly  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  crowds  who  had 
taken  refuge  within  it.  But  about  mid-day  Demetri,  the 
mayor  of  Nauplia,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  division  on 
the  north,  observed  buckets  being  let  down  from  the  top 
of  the  citadel  wall  into  the  river  and  drawn  up  again 
full.  The  rocks  here  overhung  a  little,  and,  taking  with 
him  some  ten  naen,  they  dashed  right  under  the  walls  and 
to  the  corner  abutting  on  the  river.  At  that  moment 
two  more  buckets  appeared  close  in  front  of  them,  and 
he  and  another,  taking  hold  of  them,  quietly  undid  the 
knots  which  tied  them  to  the  rope.  The  grim  humor  of 
this  amused  him,  and  in  half  an  hour  there  was  a  row  of 
some  twenty  buckets,  which  they  had  untied  or  cut.  The 
besieged  then  attempted  to  get  water  farther  down,  but 
the  rocks  there  being  not  so  precipitous  and  sloj^ing  out- 
ward, the  buckets  stuck  on  some  projection  of  rock  be- 
fore reaching  the  water. 

Meantime  a  column  of  smoke,  rising  from  the  harbor, 
showed  that  the  Messenians  were  at  their  work.  One 
corps  had  deployed  along  the  shore  and  took  in  hand  the 
work  of  burning  all  the  shipping,  while  the  other  was 
employed  in  making  prisoners  of  the  fugitives  from  the 
lower  town,  who  hoped  to  escape  by  sea.  A  few  of  these, 
striking  eastward  across  the  plain,  tried  to  get  into  the 
mountains,  and  were  shot,  but  the  majority,  finding 
themselves  between  two  divisions  of  the  army,  cut  off 
from  the  citadel  by  Petrobey's  division  and  from  the  sea 
by  the  Messenians,  and  also  being  unarmed,  surrendered 
to  Niketas,  who,  knowing  no  Turkish,  but  being  proud 
of  his  English,  merely  said  *^  All-a-right"  to  their  en- 

276 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

treaties  and  prayers,  and  had  them  incontinently  stowed 
away  in  batches  in  the  harbor  buildings.  The  Arca- 
dians, meantime,  had  ranged  themselves  along  the  break- 
water, where  they  kept  watch  for  the  Turkish  ships,  and, 
having  no  work  to  hand,  spent  the  morning  in  smoking 
and  singing. 

About  two  in  the  afternoon  word  was  brought  to  the 
captain  of  the  troops  within  the  citadel — one  Ali  Aga — 
that  two  Turkish  ships  had  been  seen  in  the  offing  ap- 
proaching Kalamata.  A  steady  south  breeze  was  blow- 
ing, and  a  couple  of  hours  would  see  their  arrival.  Ali 
had  watched,  in  white,  contemptuous  anger  that  morn- 
ing, the  destruction  of  the  shipping  by  the  Greeks. 
The  ammunition  within  the  walls  was  very  scanty,  and 
the  water  supply  for  this  irruption  of  fugitives  was  wholly 
inadequate.  Indeed,  unless  news  of  their  straits  was 
already  on  the  road  to  Tripoli — and  this  he  could  scarce 
hope,  so  swift  and  complete  had  been  the  beleaguer — 
unless  a  relief  expedition  was  even  now  imminently  start- 
ing, he  saw  that  the  only  chance  of  saving  the  town  lay 
in  concerted  action  with  the  a^pproaching  ships,  and  thus 
making  an  attack  on  the  Greek  lines  from  both  sides — 
the  citadel  and  the  sea.  Thus  he  determined  to  wait 
until  the  ships  came  up  and  engaged  the  detachment  of 
Greeks  on  the  shore. 

The  wind  still  holding,  in  half  an  hour  the  Arcadian 
contingent  on  the  breakwater  could  see  even  from  the 
beach  the  hulls  of  the  approaching  ships,  beyond  all 
doubt  Turkish  men-of-war.  The  breakwater  along  which 
the  Greeks  were  ranged  was  still  only  half  completed,  and 
masses  of  rough  masonry  lay  piled  and  tumbled  on  the 
seaward  end.  Niketas  rubbed  his  hands  gleefully  as  he 
made  the  dispositions  for  their  welcome,  and  exclaimed 
many  times  ^^This  is  very  all-a-right ";  then,  relapsing 

277 


THE    VINTAGE 

into  Greek,  he  gave  his  orders,  and  mingled  with  them  a 
chuckling  homily. 

'^'The  Turk  made  the  breakwater,"  he  said,  ^'^but  God 
and  the  holy  saints,  having  the  Greeks  in  mind,  were  the 
designers.  Hide  yourselves  ever  so  thickly  among  these 
beautiful  great  stones,  like  anchovies  in  a  barrel,  and 
when  the  ship  turns  into  the  harbor  we  will  all  talk  loud 
to  it  together.  The  water  is  very  deep  here  ;  they  will 
sail  close  to  our  anchovy  barrel,  and  they  will  see  none 
of  us  till  they  turn  the  corner,  for  the  breakwater  which 
God  planned  hides  us  from  the  sea." 

He  called  up  one  division  of  Messenians  to  join  the 
Arcadian  corps,  leaving  the  other  to  guard  the  beach, 
and  the  sixteen  hundred  men  ranged  themselves  among 
the  blocks  of  masonry  along  the  inside  of  the  breakwater, 
so  that  until  the  ships  turned  the  corner  not  one  could 
be  seen,  but  once  round  they  would  be  exposed  to  a 
broadside  of  muskets  at  close  range  from  marksmen  con- 
cealed by  the  stones.  Niketas  himself — for  the  foremost 
ship  was  now  not  more  than  a  few  hundred  yards  out — 
crawled  with  infinite  precaution  to  the  end  of  the  break- 
water, and  smilingly  watched  its  unsuspicious  approach. 
It  carried,  he  saw,  many  heavy  guns ;  but  that  was  a 
small  matter. 

The  wind  was  now  light,  and  the  ship  was  nearly  oppo- 
site the  end  of  the  breakwater  when  she  began  to  take  in 
sail,  and  a  moment  afterwards  her  helm  was  put  hard 
aport,  and  she  slowly  swung  round,  crumpling  the  smooth 
water  beneath  her  bow,  and  came  straight  alongside  the 
wall  at  a  distance  of  not  more  than  fifty  yards.  Nike- 
tas  had  told  the  men  to  fire  exactly  when  the  ship  came 
opposite  them.  She  would  pass  slowly  down  the  line, 
and  would  be  raked  fore  and  aft  again  and  again  as  she 
went  along. 

278 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Sixteen  hundred  men  were  crowded  like  swarming 
bees  among  the  lumps  of  tumbled  stone.  As  many 
muskets  waited  hungrily.  Overhead,  above  the  shelter 
of  the  breakwater,  hummed  the  breeze ;  the  little  wave- 
lets tapped  on  the  edge  of  the  masonry ;  the  stage  was 
ready. 

Tall  and  beautiful  she  came  slowly  on  till  her  whole 
length  appeared  opposite  the  ambush.  Her  decks  and 
rigging  were  alive  with  the  sailors,  who  were  swarming 
over  the  masts  and  furling  sail,  or  stood  ready  to  drop 
the  anchor  on  the  word  of  command.  On  the  bridge 
stood  the  captain  with  two  other  officers,  and,  marshalled 
in  rows  on  the  aft  deck,  about  two  hundred  soldiers, 
carrying  arms.  Simultaneously  through  the  ambushed 
Greeks  the  same  thought  ran,  "  The  soldiers  first,"  and 
as  the  great  ship  glided  steadily  past  the  end  of  the 
breakwater  the  fire  of  a  hundred  men  broke  out,  and 
they  went  down  like  ninepins.  The  ship  moved  on, 
and,  like  the  echo  of  the  first  volley,  a  second  swept  the 
decks,  and  close  on  the  second  a  third.  The  captain  fell 
and  two  officers  with  him,  and  a  panic  seized  the  crew. 
They  ran  hither  and  thither,  some  seeking  refuge  below, 
some  jumping  overboard,  some  standing  where  they  were, 
wide-eyed  and  terror-stricken.  A  few  of  the  soldiers 
only  retained  their  presence  of  mind,  and  with  perfect 
calmness,  as  if  they  were  practising  at  some  sham-fight, 
brought  a  gun  into  position  and  proceeded  to  load  it. 
But  again  and  again  they  were  mowed  down  by  the  deadly 
short-range  fire  of  the  Greeks,  while  others  took  up  the 
ramrods  and  charge  from  their  clinched  hands,  only  to 
deliver  it  up  from  their  death-grip  to  others.  But  still 
the  great  ship  went  on,  running  the  gantlet  of  the  whole 
ambush,  while  every  moment  its  decks  grew  more  popu- 
lous with  a  ghastly  crew  of  death.     The  well-directed  and 

279 


THE    VINTAGE 

low  fire  of  the  Greeks  had  left  the  half-furled  sails  un- 
touched, and  the  wind  still  blew  steadily.  But  in  a  few 
moments  more  there  were  none  left  to  take  the  helm, 
and,  swinging  round  to  the  wind,  she  changed  her  course 
and  went  straight  for  the  Ioav,  sandy  beach  on  the  other 
side  of  the  harbor.  There,  fifty  yards  off  the  shore,  she 
grounded  heavily,  with  a  slight  list  to  starboard,  striking 
a  sand-bank  on  the  port  side ;  and  there,  all  the  after- 
noon, she  stood,  white  and  stately,  with  sails  bulging 
with  the  wind,  but  moving  not,  like  some  painted  or 
phantom  ship  with  wings  that  feel  not  wind  nor  any 
gale. 

Not  till  then  did  Niketas,  nor  indeed  any  of  his  am- 
bushed party,  give  a  thought  to  the  other  ship,  but  when 
the  first  ship  with  its  crew  of  dead  turned  in  the  wind  and 
sailed  ashore  he  looked  round  the  corner  for  the  other. 
It  was  still  some  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  but  there  seemed 
to  be  some  commotion  on  deck,  and  he  was  uncertain 
for  a  moment  whether  they  were  preparing  to  bring  their 
big  gun  into  play.  But  he  was  not  left  long  in  doubt, 
for  in  a  couple  of  minutes  more  the  ship  swung  round 
and  beat  out  to  sea  again.  This  disgraceful  piece  of 
cowardice  raised  from  the  Greeks  a  howl,  partly  of  deri- 
sion and  partly  of  rage  at  being  balked  of  their  prey,  and 
a  few  discharged  their  muskets  at  the  fleeing  enemy  until 
Niketas  stopped  them,  telling  them  not  to  waste  good 
powder  on  runaway  dogs.  On  the  first  ship  the  body  of 
soldiers  had  literally  been  destroyed,  and  of  two  hundred 
not  more  than  thirty  remained.  But  these,  with  a  coura- 
geous despair,  after  the  first  few  minutes  of  wild  confu- 
sion were  over,  had  sheltered  themselves  at  different  points 
behind  the  bulwarks  and  furniture  of  the  ship,  and  were 
returning  the  fire  coolly,  while  others  began  preparing 
the  big  gun  for  action.     But  these  were  an  easy  mark 

280 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

for  the  Greeks,  for  they  were  unprotected,  and  after  five 
or  six  more  men  had  been  shot  down  they  abandoned 
the  attempt  and  confined  themselves  to  their  muskets. 
They  were,  however,  fighting  with  cruel  odds  against 
them,  for  the  men  on  whom  they  were  firing  were  shel- 
tered by  tile  blocks  of  masonry  on  the  pier,  and  hardly 
more  couJd  be  seen  than  a  bristling  row  of  gun-barrels. 
Hardly  any  of  those  who  had  flung  themselves  into  the 
sea  lived  to  reach  the  shore,  for  they  also  were  shot  down 
as  they  swam,  and  all  over  the  bay  were  stains  of  crim- 
son blood  and  clothes  which  they  had  flung  off  into  the 
water.  One  man,  indeed,  landed  two  hundred  yards 
away,  but  even  as  he  stood  there  wringing  the  water  out 
of  his  clothes,  which  would  clog  his  running,  he  was  shot 
dead,  and  fell  back  into  the  water  again. 

Meantime,  from  the  citadel  Ali  Aga  had  watched  the 
destruction  of  one  ship  and  the  flight  of  the  other.  At 
the  moment  when  the  first  had  entered  the  harbor  he 
had  opened  fire  on  the  Mainat  corps ;  but  they,  obeying 
Petrobey's  direction,  merely  sheltered  behind  the  mills, 
and  did  not  even  take  the  trouble  to  return  it.  En- 
couraged by  this,  and  seeing  heavy  fighting  going  on 
below,  Ali  was  just  preparing  to  make  a  dash  for  the 
harbor  with  some  half  of  the  troops,  in  order  to  establish 
communication,  when  the  firing  on  the  shore  suddenly 
slackened,  and  he  saw  one  ship  sail  off  without  firing  a 
shot,  while  the  other  drifted  with  half-furled  sails  across 
the  bay,  and  then  grounded.  At  that  he  resolved  again 
to  wait,  for  he  had  no  intention  of  going  to  the  rescue 
of  those  who  should  have  rescued  him,  and  indeed,  with- 
out co-operation  from  the  ship,  the  attempt  would  have 
been  madness. 

At  dusk  the  firing  below  ceased  altogether,  for  a  boat 
had  put  off  from  the  ship  bearing  the  white  flag  of  sur- 

281 


THE    VINTAGE 

render,  and  all  those  who  were  left  on  board  were  re- 
moved, their  arms  taken  from  them,  and  they  were  put 
into  custody.  Niketas,  who  boarded  the  ship,  felt  a 
Budden  unwilling  admiration  for  the  man  who  had  gone 
on  fighting  against  such  fearful  odds.  The  deck  pre- 
sented a  fearful  sight — it  was  a  shambles,  nothing  less. 
The  list  of  the  ship  as  she  struck  had  drained  the  blood 
in  oily,  half -congealed  streams  through  the  scuppers,  and 
it  was  dripping  sullenly  into  the  sea.  The  small -arms 
and  powder  the  Greeks  transferred  in  boats  to  the  land, 
where  they  were  added  to  the  stock,  and  they  made  sev- 
eral unsuccessful  attempts  to  get  out  one  or  two  of  the 
larger  guns,  which  might  prove  useful  if  Kalamata  re- 
fused to  capitulate.  But  all  their  efforts,  in  the  absence 
of  fit  tackling  and  lifting  apparatus,  were  useless,  and 
after  emptying  the  ship  of  all  that  could  be  of  service 
to  them,  including  a  sum  of  five  hundred  Turkish  pounds, 
which  was  found  in  the  captain's  cabin,  they  set  light 
to  it  for  fear  it  should  be  got  off  by  its  sister  ship  and 
so  return  into  the  enemy's  fleet.  All  night  long  the  hull 
blazed,  and  about  midnight  it  was  a  pillar  of  fire,  for  the 
sails  caught  and  the  flames  went  roaring  upward,  mast 
high.     And  thus  ended  the  first  day  of  the  siege. 

All  next  day  the  blockade  continued  without  incident, 
and  no  attempt  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Turks  to 
deliver  an  attack,  nor  on  that  of  the  besiegers  to  force 
their  way  into  the  citadel.  The  pass  from  Arcadia  and 
that  over  Taygetus,  across  either  of  which  any  relief  expe- 
dition from  Tripoli  must  march,  were  carefully  watched, 
and  before  such  appeared  Petrobey  declined  to  make  an 
attack,  which  must  be  expensive  to  the  Greek  army,  when 
simply  waiting  would  do  their  work  for  them  ;  while  Ali 
on  his  side  would  sooner  capitulate,  if  the  worst  came  to 
the  worst,  than  with  his  fifteen  hundred  men,  ill-sup- 

283 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

plied  with  ammunition,  engage  these  six  regiments  of 
wolves  ;  for  such  an  engagement,  as  he  knew,  would  only 
end  in  his  utter  defeat,  and  the  massacre  in  all  proba- 
bility of  all  the  Turks  in  the  town. 

Early  on  the  third  morning  it  was  clear  that  help  was 
not  coming  from  Tripoli,  or,  at  any  rate,  that  it  would 
come  too  late.  The  water  supply  had  entirely  given  out 
and  famine  as  well  was  beginning  to  make  itself  felt.  For 
two  days  and  nights  the  citadel  had  been  packed  like  a 
crate  of  figs  with  defenceless  and  civilian  humanity,  more 
than  half  of  whom  had  to  lie  out  under  the  cold  of  the 
spring  night  exposed  to  the  dews  and  the  sun,  some  of 
them  barely  half  clad,  just  as  they  had  been  awakened 
from  their  sleep  when  they  had  fled  panic-stricken  to  the 
citadel.  Below  in  the  Greek  army  the  utmost  content 
and  harmony  still  reigned.  The  men  were  well  quartered 
and  had  all  the  supplies  of  the  town  in  their  hands,  and 
a  considerable  amount  of  booty  had  been  taken,  half  of 
which  was  divided  between  the  men  and  half  reserved  by 
Petrobey  for  a  war  fund. 

The  first  bugle  had  sounded  half  an  hour,  and  they 
were  preparing  their  breakfast  when  a  white  flag  was 
hoisted  on  the  corner  tower,  the  gate  opened,  and  All 
Aga,  alone  and  unattended,  except  for  a  page  who 
carried  his  chibouk,  walked  down  into  the  camp.  Some 
Greeks,  who  had  lived  under  him  and  had  felt  his  cruel 
and  outrageous  rule,  saw  him  coming  and  surrounded 
him,  spitting  at  him  and  reviling  him  ;  but  here  the 
devilish  coolness  of  the  man  came  to  the  front,  a  matter 
for  admiration,  and  turning  round  on  them  he  cursed 
at  them  so  fiercely,  calling  them  dogs  and  sons  of  dogs, 
that  they  fell  back.  By  the  side  of  the  road  was  sitting 
a  blind  Greek,  begging.  Ali,  with  splendid  unconcern, 
paused,  threw  open  his  red  cloak  trimmed  with  the  fur 

283 


THE    VINTAGE 

of  the  yellow  fox,  which  he  had  wrapped  closely  about 
him  against  the  chill  of  the  morning,  and  taking  his 
pistol  and  string  of  amber  beads  out  of  his  belt,  felt  in 
the  corners  of  it  for  some  small  coins,  which  he  gave  the 
man  and  passed  deliberately  on,  adjusting  his  fez  with 
one  hand.  Once  again  before  he  reached  Petrobey^s 
quarters  he  paused,  this  time  to  take  off  one  of  his  red 
shoes  and  shake  a  pebble  out  of  it.  Had  he  blanched  or 
w^avered  for  a  moment  his  life  would  have  been  forfeit  a 
dozen  times  before  he  reached  Petrobey's  quarters,  but  he 
treated  the  howling  crowd  as  a  man  treats  snarling  curs, 
and  he  silently  commanded  one  of  the  loudest-mouthed 
to  show  him  the  way  to  their  commander. 

Petrobey  had  seen  Ali  coming,  and  was  sitting  outside 
the  house  where  he  had  taken  up  his  quarters,  and  when 
the  Turk  appeared  he  arose  and  saluted  him,  telling  a 
servant  to  bring  a  pipe  for  him  ;  but  Ali  did  not  return 
the  salute,  and  merely  indicated  Avith  one  hand  that  he 
had  brought  his  own  pipe  with  him,  an  insult  of  the 
most  potent  nature.  To  him  the  Greeks  were  ^'^  all  of 
one  bake,"  and  he  looked  at  Petrobey  and  spoke  as  if  he 
were  speaking  to  one  of  his  own  slaves. 

"I  find  it  necessary  for  me  to  capitulate,"  he  said,  in 
excellent  Greek,  *'and  I  am  here  to  settle  the  condi- 
tions." 

Petrobey  flushed  angrily.  He  was  not  a  meek  man, 
and  had  no  stomach  for  insults ;  so  he  sat  down  again, 
leaving  Ali  standing,  and  crossed  one  leg  over  the  other. 

^'^I  make  no  conditions,"  he  said,  '^except  this  one  :  I 
will  order  no  general  massacre  ;  at  the  same  time,  it 
would  be  safer  for  all  of  you  not  to  assume  insolent  and 
overbearing  airs." 

Ali  raised  his  eyebrows,  and  before  speaking  again  sat 
down  and  beckoned  to  the  page  who  carried  his  pipe. 

284" 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

'^  You  will  not  give  us  a  safe  conduct  to  Tripoli,  for 
instance  ?" 

'^No." 

*^  You  will  not  allow  us  to  retain  our  arms  ?" 

Petrobey  laughed. 

'''Such  is  not  my  intention:  All  I  will  do" — and  his 
anger  suddenly  flared  up  at  the  perfectly  unassumed  in- 
solence of  the  man — "all  I  will  do  is  to  forbid  my  men 
to  shoot  you  down  in  cold  blood.  You  will  be  wise  to 
consider  that,  for  we  may  not  care  to  grant  such  terms, 
no,  nor  yet  be  able  to  enforce  obedience  to  them  if  we  did, 
on  the  day  when  Tripoli  is  crushed  like  a  beetle  below 
our  heel." 

Ali  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  took  his  chibouk  from 
the  hands  of  the  page  who  carried  it. 

''  Oblige  me  with  a  piece  of  charcoal,"  he  said  to  one 
of  the  Greeks  who  stood  by,  and  he  lit  his  pipe  slowly 
and  deliberately  before  replying. 

^'  Your  terms  are  preposterous,"  he  said  ;  *'  I  do  not, 
however,  say  that  I  will  not  accept  them,  but  I  wish  for 
five  hours  more  for  consideration." 

"  Five  hours  more  for  relief  from  Tripoli,  in  my  poor 
judgment,"  remarked  Petrobey.  "I  am  afraid  that  will 
not  be  convenient  to  me.  I  require  'yes^  or  'no';  nei- 
ther more  nor  less." 

Ali  inhaled  two  long  breaths  of  smoke. 

"If  I  will  give  neither  'yes'  nor  'no,'  what  then  ?" 

"  This.  You  shall  go  back  in  safety,  and  then  when 
you  are  starved  out,  or  when  we  take  the  place,  I  will  not 
grant  any  terms.  And  we  have  a  long  score  against  you. 
Your  rule  has  not  been  popular  among  my  countrymen  ; 
those  who  have  lived  here  under  you  are  full  of  very 
pretty  tales." 

"I  suppose  the  dogs  are.     I  accept  your  terms." 
285 


THE    VINTAGE 

Petrobey  rose. 

*^  Consider  yourself  my  prisoner,"  he  said,  not  even 
looking  at  him.  ^^Take  charge  of  him,  Christos,  and 
Yorgi,  and  order  all  three  corps  out,  Yanni." 

*^  Another  piece  of  charcoal,  one  of  you,'^  said  Ali. 
"  This  tobacco  is  a  little  damp." 

In  half  an  hour^s  time  all  the  Turkish  soldiers  and 
civilians  were  defiled  out  of  the  citadel  unarmed  be- 
tween the  lines  of  the  Greeks.  They  were  instantly  di- 
vided up  among  the  different  corps,  and  from  that  mo- 
ment became  the  property  of  the  soldiers  as  much  as  the 
Greek  slaves  in  the  last  years  had  been  the  property  of 
their  Turkish  masters.  Many  Avho  had  friends  were 
ransomed,  many  became  domestic  slaves,  and  many,  in 
the  Greek  phrase,  ^*^the  moon  devoured."  The  flag  of 
Greece  was  hoisted  on  the  towers,  and  the  work  which 
Mitsos  had  cried  aloud  in  fire  from  Taygetus  to  Bassae 
had  begun. 

And  on  that  day  which  saw  the  dawning  of  the  freedom 
of  Greece  it  seemed  to  these  enthusiastic  hearts,  who  for 
years  had  cherished  and  fed  the  smouldering  spark  which 
now  ran  bursting  into  flame,  that  earth  and  sea  and  sky 
joined  in  the  glory  and  triumph.  From  its  throne  in  the 
infinite  blue  the  sun  shone  to  their  eyes  with  a  magnif- 
icence greater  than  natural ;  to  the  south  the  sea  sparkled 
and  laughed  innumerably,  and  the  meadows  round  the 
fallen  town  that  day  were  suddenly  smitten  scarlet  with 
the  blowing  of  the  wind-flowers.  And  when  the  work  of 
distributing  the  prisoners  was  over,  all  the  army  went 
down  to  the  edge  of  the  torrent -bed,  and  gave  thanks, 
with  singing  mouths  and  hearts  that  sang,  to  the  Giver 
of  Victory.  There,  half  a  mile  above  the  citadel,  in  a 
church  of  which  the  sun  was  the  light,  and  the  soft,  cool 
north   wind   the   incense   that   wafted   thanksgiving   to 

286 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

heaven,  stood  the  first  Greek  army  of  free  men  that  had 
known  the  unspeakable  thrill  of  victory  since  the  Roman 
yoke  had  bound  them  a  score  of  hundred  years  ago. 
Some  were  old  men,  withered  and  gray,  and  ground 
down  in  long  slavery  to  a  cruel  and  bestial  master,  and 
destined  not  to  see  the  full  moon  of  their  freedom ;  in 
some,  like  the  seed  on  stony  ground,  a-  steadfast  heart 
had  no  deep  root,  and  in  the  times  of  war  and  desolation, 
which  were  still  to  come,  they  were  to  fall  away,  tiring 
of  the  glorious  quest ;  some  were  still  young  boys,  to 
whom  the  event  was  no  more  than  a  mere  toy ;  but  for 
the  time,  at  any  rate,  all  were  one  heart,  beating  full  in 
the  morning  of  a  long -delayed  resurrection.  Standing 
on  a  mound  in  the  centre  were  four-and-twenty  priests, 
in  the  front  of  whom  was  Father  Andrea,  tall,  and  eyed 
like  a  mountain  hawk,  with  a  heart  full  of  glory  and 
red  vengeance.  And,  when  lifting  up  the  mightiest  voice 
in  Greece,  he  gave  out  the  first  words  of  that  hymn 
which  has  risen  a  thousand  times  to  the  clash  of  victori- 
ous arms,  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude  answered  him, 
and  the  sound  was  as  the  sound  of  many  waters.  All  the 
ardor  and  hot  blood  of  the  Greeks  leaped  like  a  blush  to 
the  surface,  and  on  all  sides,  mixed  with  the  noise  of  the 
singing,  rose  one  great  sob  of  a  thankful  people  born 
again.  Petrobey,  with  Nicholas  on  one  side  and  Mitsos 
and  Yanni  on  the  other,  hardly  knew  that  the  tears  were 
streaming  down  his  tanned  and  weather-beaten  cheeks, 
and  to  the  others,  as  to  him,  memory  and  expectation 
were  merged  and  sunk  in  the  present  ineffable  moment. 
There  was  no  before  or  after ;  they  were  there,  men  of  a 
free  people,  and  conscious  only  of  the  one  thing — that 
the  first  blow  had  been  struck,  and  struck  home  and 
true,  that  they  thanked  God  for  the  power  He  had  given 
them  to  use. 

287 


THE    VINTAGE 

And  when  it  was  over  Petrobey  turned  to  Nicholas, 
and  smiling  at  him  through  his  tears  : 

''  Old  friend,"  he  said. 

And  Nicholas  echoed  his  words,  echoed  that  which 
was  too  deep  for  words,  and — 

*'  Old  friend,"  he  replied. 


CHAPTER  II 

TWO   SILVER   CANDLESTICKS 

For  two  days  longer  the  army  remained  at  Kalamata 
in  an  ecstasy  of  success.  Petrobey  posted  several  com- 
panies of  men  on  the  lower  hills  of  Taygetus  and  at  the 
top  of  the  plain,  from  which  a  pass  led  into  Arcadia,  in 
ambush  for  any  relieving  force  from  Tripoli,  should  such 
be  sent.  Flushed  with  victory  as  they  were,  nothing 
seemed  impossible,  and  the  spirit  of  the  men  was  to 
march  straight  on  that  stronghold  of  the  Turkish  power. 
But  Petrobey  was  wiser ;  he  knew  that  this  affair  at 
Kalamata  had  been  no  real  test  of  the  army's  capaci- 
ty ;  they  had  stood  with  folded  arms,  and  the  prey  had 
dropped  at  their  feet.  To  attack  a  strongly  fortified 
place,  competently  held,  was  to  adventure  far  more  seri- 
ously. At  present  he  had  neither  men  nor  arms  enough, 
and  the  only  sane  course  was  to  wait,  embarking,  it 
might  be,  on  enterprises  of  the  smaller  sort,  till  with  the 
news  of  their  exploit  the  rising  became  more  general. 
In  the  mean  time  he  remained  at  Kalamata  in  order  to 
get  tidings  from  the  north  of  the  Morea  as  to  the  sequel 
of  the  beacon  there,  and,  if  expedient,  to  unite  his  troops 
with  the  contingent  from  Patras  and  Megaspelaion.  As 
commander-in-chief  of  the  first  army  in  the  field,  he 
issued  a  proclamation,  declaring  that  the  Greeks  were 
determined  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  Turk,  and 
asking  for  the  aid   of  Christians  in  giving  liberty  to 


THE    VINTAGE 

those  who  were  enslaved  to  the  worshippers  of  an  alien 
god. 

The  primates  and  principal  clergy  of  the  Morea,  it  will 
be  remembered,  had  been  summoned  to  Tripoli  for  the 
meeting  at  the  end  of  March,  and  the  scheme  that  the 
wisdom  of  Mitsos  had  hatched,  to  give  them  an  excuse 
for  their  disobedience,  had  met  with  entire  success. 
Germanos,  who  both  spoke  and  wrote  Turkish,  forged  a 
letter,  purporting  to  come  from  a  friendly  Mussulman  at 
Tripoli,  warning  him  to  beware,  for  Mehemet  Salik, 
thinking  that  a  rising  of  the  Greeks  was  imminent,  had 
determined  to  put  one  or  two  of  the  principal  men  to 
death  in  order  to  terrorize  the  people,  and  with  the 
same  stone  to  deprive  them  of  their  leaders.  With  this 
in  his  pocket,  he  set  out  and  travelled  quietly  to  Kalav- 
ryta,  where  he  found  other  of  the  principal  clergy  as- 
sembled at  the  house  of  Zaimes,  the  primate  of  the  place. 
Germanos  arrived  there  in  the  evening,  and  before  going 
to  bed  gave  the  forged  letter  to  Lambros,  his  servant, 
telling  him  to  start  early  next  morning,  ride  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Tripoli,  then  turn  back  and  meet  the  party  at 
their  mid-day  halt.  He  was  then  to  give  the  letter  to 
his  master,  saying  that  he  had  received  it  from  a  Turk 
on  the  road,  who  hearing  that  he  was  Germanos's  servant, 
told  him,  as  he  valued  his  life  and  the  life  of  his  master, 
not  to  spare  spur  till  he  had  given  it  him,  and  on  no  ac- 
count to  hint  a  word  of  the  matter  to  any  one. 

Lambros,  who  had  the  southern  palate  for  anything 
smacking  of  drama  and  mystery,  obeyed  in  letter  and 
spirit,  and  at  mid-day,  while  the  primates  were  halting, 
he  spurred  a  Jaded,  foam-streaked  horse  up  the  road, 
flung  himself  quickly  off,  and  gave  the  forged  commu- 
nication to  his  master.  Germanos  glanced  through  it 
with  well-feigned  dismay  and  exclamations  of  astonished 

290 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

horror,  and  at  once  read  it  aloud  to  the  assembled  pri- 
mates, who  were  struck  with  consternation.  Some  sug- 
gested one  thing  and  some  another,  but  every  one  looked 
to  Germanos  for  an  authoritative  word. 

"  This  will  we  do,  my  brothers,^'  he  said,  "  if  it  seems 
good  to  you  :  I  will  send  this  letter  to  my  admirable 
friend — or  so  I  still  think — Mehemet  Salik,  and  ask  for 
a  promise  of  safety,  a  matter  of  form  merely.  Yet  we 
may  not  disregard  what  my  other  admirable  friend  has 
said,  for  if,  as  God  forbid,  it  is  true,  where  would  our 
flock  be  without  their  shepherds  ?  But  if  it  is  false, 
Mehemet  will  at  once  send  us  a  promise  of  safety.  Mean- 
time, we  must  act  as  if  the  truth  of  this  letter  were  pos- 
sible, and  I  suggest  that  we  all  disperse,  and  for  our 
greater  safety  each  surround  himself  with  some  small 
guard.  And  before  the  answer  comes  back,  it  may  be" 
— he  looked  round  and  saw  only  the  faces  of  patriots — 
"it  may  be  that  there  will  be  other  business  on  hand" 
— and  his  face  was  a  beacon. 

It  is  probable  that  more  than  one  of  the  primates 
guessed  that  the  letter  was  a  forgery,  but  they  were  only 
too  glad  to  be  supplied  with  a  specious  excuse  for  delay- 
ing their  journey,  and  followed  Germanos's  advice. 

Then  followed  those  ten  days  of  feverish  inaction, 
while  on  Taygetus  Petrobey  collected  the  forces  which 
were  to  be  the  doom  of  Kalamata.  Evening  by  evening 
patient  men  climbed  to  the  hills  where  the  beacon  fuel 
was  stacked,  questioning  the  horizon  for  the  signal,  and 
morning  by  morning  returned  to  the  expectant  band  of 
patriots  in  their  villages,  saying  "  Not  yet,  not  yet,"  un- 
til one  night  the  signs  of  fire  shouted  from  south  to 
north  of  the  land,  telling  them  that  the  Vintage  was 
ripe  for  harvest.  At  Kalavryta,  where  the  first  blow  in 
the  north  was  struck,  they  found  the  Turks  even  less 

291 


THE    VINTAGE 

ready  than  at  Kalamata,  and  little  expecting  the  soldiers 
of  God  in  their  companies  from  the  monastery ;  and  on 
the  3d  of  April  the  town  surrendered  on  receiving,  as  at 
Kalamata,  a  promise  that  there  should  be  no  massacre. 
The  place  was  one  of  little  importance  among  the  Turk- 
ish towns,  but  of  the  first  importance  to  the  revolution- 
ists, lying  as  it  did  in  the  centre  of  the  richest  valley  in 
Greece,  and  in  close  proximity  to  Megaspelaion,  and  it 
became  the  centre  of  operations  in  the  north.  Also,  it 
was  valuable  inasmuch  as  several  very  wealthy  Turks 
lived  there,  and  the  money  that  thus  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Greeks  was  food  for  the  sinews  of  war. 

As  soon  as  this  reached  Kalamata,  Petrobey  determined 
to  move.  The  wholesale  success  of  the  patriots  in  the 
north  showed  that  they  were  in  no  need  of  immediate 
help,  and  to  have  two  different  armies  in  the  field,  one 
driving  the  Turks  southward,  the  other  northward  into 
Tripoli,  the  central  fortress  of  Ottoman  supremacy,  was 
ideal  to  his  wishes.  But  more  than  ever  now  soberness 
and  strength  were  needed  ;  the  men  hearing  of  the  tak- 
ing of  Kalavryta  were  wild  to  unite  with  the  northern 
army  and  march  straight  on  Tripoli.  But  Petrobey, 
backed  by  Nicholas,  was  as  firm  as  Taygetus ;  such  a 
course  could  only  end  in  disaster,  for  they  were  yet  as 
ignorant  as  children  of  the  elements  of  war,  and  it  would 
be  an  inconceivable  rashness  now  to  venture  on  that 
which  would  be  final  disaster  or  the  freedom  of  the 
Morea.  They  must  learn  the  alphabet  of  their  new 
trade ;  what  better  school  could  there  be  than  their  camp 
on  the  slopes  of  Taygetus,  the  lower  hill-sides  of  which 
were  covered  with  Turkish  villages,  and  where  they  would 
not,  from  the  nature  of  the  ground,  be  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  cavalry  ?  So,  after  making  great  breaches  in 
the  walls  of  the  citadel  of  Kalamata,  and  filling  up  the 

292 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

well,  so  that  never  again  could  it  be  used  as  a  stronghold, 
they  marched  back  across  the  blossomed  plain  and  up  to 
the  hill  camp  below  the  beacon  with  the  glory  of  success 
upon  them. 

Three  nights  later  Yanni  and  Mitsos  were  sitting  after 
supper  in  the  open  air  by  a  camp-fire.  Yanni,  still  rather 
soft  from  his  month's  fattening  at  Tripoli — "And,  oh, 
Yanni,''  said  Mitsos,  "but  it  is  a  stinging  affair  to  have 
fattened  a  little  pig  like  you,  and  never  have  the  eating 
of  it " — was  suffering  from  a  blister  on  his  heel,  and  Mit- 
sos prescribed  spirits  on  the  raw  or  pure  indifference. 

"If  you  had  been  cooped  and  fattened  as  I,  little  Mit- 
sos," said  Yanni,  in  an  infernally  superior  manner,  "how 
much  running  do  you  think  you  could  lay  leg  to  ?  As  it 
is,  if  you  continue  to  eat  as  you  eat,  what  a  belly-man  will 
Mitsos  be  at  thirty  !" 

Mitsos  pinched  Yanni  over  the  ribs. 

"  Poor  Mehemet !"  he  said,  "  all  that  for  nothing.  I 
have  a  fine  cousin  who  is  only  just  twenty,  and  if  you 
said  he  was  fat,  man,  you  wouldn't  give  a  person  any 
proper  notion  of  him." 

"My  blister  is  worse  than  it  was  yesterday,"  said 
Yanni,  pulling  off  his  shoe. 

"There  was  a  show  at  Nauplia  last  year,"  continued 
Mitsos,  lying  lengthily  back  and  looking  at  the  stars, 
"and  a  fat  woman  in  it.  When  she  walked  she  wobbled 
like  a  jelly-fish.     Just  about  as  fat  as  a  cousin  of  mine." 

"  Oh  !" 

"She  wasn't  married,  the  man  said,  and  was  to  be  had 
for  the  asking.  I  hate  fat  women  almost  as  much  as  I 
hate  fat  men." 

Nicholas  had  strolled  out  of  his  hut,  and  was  standing 
behind  the  boys  as  they  talked. 

"Now  look  at  Uncle  Nicholas,  Yanni,"  said  Mitsos, 
293 


THE    VINTAGE 

still  unconscious  of  his  presence,  "he  will  be  some  twelve 
good  inches  taller  than  you,  and  forty  years  older  ;  but  I 
doubt  if  you  could  tie  his  trousers-strings/' 

Nicholas  laughed. 

"  I  can  do  it  myself,  little  Mitsos,"  he  said.  ''  Come 
in,  you  two  ;  there  is  work  forward. ^^ 

Yanni  sprang  up  and  stepped  into  his  shoe,  forgetting 
the  blister. 

''A  journey,"  he  said,  "for  Mitsos  and  me  ?  Oh,  Mit- 
sos,  it  is  good." 

"  Yanni  cannot  walk,"  said  Mitsos ;  "  he  has  a  blister, 
and  must  needs  be  carried  like  a  scented  woman." 

"A  blister  ?"  asked  Nicholas.    "  Don't  think  about  it." 

"  So  said  I,"  answered  Mitsos,  "  but  he  has  no  thought 
for  aught  else  in  God's  world." 

"Well,  come  in," answered  Nicholas,  "and  hear  what 
you  will  hear." 

The  business  was  soon  explained.  The  ship  which  had 
been  seen  at  Kalamata  had  gone  back  to  Nauplia,  so  it 
was  reported,  and  was  to  transport  thence  to  Athens 
several  wealthy  Turkish  families  who  were  fearful  for 
their  safety.  From  Athens  it  would  come  back,  bring- 
ing arms  and  ammunition,  to  Nauplia.  The  time  for 
the  fire-ship  had  come. 

"And  Nicholas  says,  little  Mitsos,"  continued  Petrobey, 
"  that  you  know  the  bay  of  Nauplia  like  your  own  hand, 
and  can  take  your  boat  about  it  as  a  man  carries  food  to 
his  mouth." 

Mitsos  flushed  with  pleasure. 

"And  in  truth  I  am  no  stranger  to  it,"  he  said. 
"When  do  I  start?" 

"To-morrow  morning.  The  ship  arrived  there  three 
days  ago,  but  will  wait  another  five  days.  The  business 
is  to  be  done  when  she  is  well  out  to  sea,  so  that  there  is 

294 


THE  TEEADINa  OF  THE  GRAPES 

no  time  for  her  to  get  back.     You  will  want  some  one 
with  you.     Whom  would  you  like  ?'' 

Mitsos  looked  at  Yanni. 

"  Whom  but  the  fat  little  cousin  ?"  he  said. 

''  The  little  cousin  doesn't  mind/'  said  Yanni,  with  his 
eyes  dancing,  and  gave  Mitsos  a  great  poke  in  the  ribs. 

*^Ugh,  Turkish  pig,"  quoth  Mitsos,  "we  will  settle 
that  account  together." 

"Be  quiet,  lads,"  said  Petrobey,  "and  listen  to  me"; 
and  he  gave  them  the  details  of  their  mission. 

"  Big  butchers  we  shall  be,"  said  the  blood  -  thirsty 
Mitsos  when  Petrobey  had  finished.  "  Eh,  but  the  fishes 
will  give  thanks  for  us." 

Yanni  and  he  tumbled  out  of  the  hut  again,  sparring 
at  each  other  for  sheer  delight  at  a  new  adventure,  and 
sat  talking  over  the  fire,  smoking  the  best  tobacco  from 
Turkish  shops  at  Kalamata,  till  Nicholas,  coming  out 
late  to  go  the  round  of  the  sentries,  packed  them  off  to 
bed. 

All  the  apparatus  they  would  require,  and  also  the 
caique  to  serve  as  the  fire-ship,  were  at  Nauplia;  and 
they  started  off  next  morning  unencumbered  with  bag- 
gage, with  only  one  horse,  which  the  "  scented  woman  " 
was  to  ride  if  his  blister  should  tease  him.  A  detach- 
ment of  the  clan  who  were  not  on  duty,  as  well  as 
Nicholas  and  Mitsos'  father,  saw  them  to  the  top  of  the 
pass,  which  they  were  to  follow  till  they  got  onto  the 
main  road  at  Sparta,  and  then  go  across  country,  giving 
Tripoli  a  very  wide  berth,  and  taking  a  boat  across  the 
bay  of  Nauplia  so  as  to  avoid  Argos.  At  Nauplia  they 
were  to  put  up  at  Mitsos'  house,  but  keep  very  quiet, 
and  remain  there  as  little  time  as  might  be.  The  caique 
would  be  lying  at  anchor  opposite ;  Lelas,  the  cafe-keeper, 
had  charge  of  it. 

395 


THE    VINTAGE 

The  journey  was  made  without  alarm  or  danger.  On 
the  evening  of  the  first  day  they  found  themselves  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Langarda  pass,  with  the  great  fertile  plain 
of  Sparta  spread  out  before  them,  now  green,  now  gray, 
as  the  wind  ruffled  the  groves  of  olive-trees.  A  mile  be- 
yond the  bottom  of  the  pass  their  way  lay  close  under  the 
walls  of  the  little  Turkish  town  of  Mistra,  and  this  they 
passed  by  quickly,  in  case  the  news  of  the  taking  of  Kala- 
mata  had  come  and  the  soldiers  were  on  the  lookout  for 
wandering  Greeks.  But  as  they  skirted  along  a  foot-path 
below  the  town  Yanni  looked  back. 

^'It's  very  odd,''  he  said,  "but  we  have  passed  nobody 
going  home ;  and  look,  there  are  no  lights  in  any  of  the 
houses.'' 

"That  is  queer,"  said  Mitsos  ;  "no,  there  is  not  a 
single  light.     We'll  wait  a  bit,  Yanni." 

They  sat  down  off  the  path  in  the  growing  dusk,  but 
not  a  sign  came  from  the  town  ;  no  lights  appeared  in 
the  windows,  it  seemed  perfectly  deserted,  and  by  degrees 
their  curiosity  made  a  convert  of  their  caution. 

"  We  will  go  very  quietly  and  have  a  look  at  the  gate," 
said  Yanni.  "  It  will  be  pleasanter  sleeping  in  a  house 
than  in  the  fields,  for  it  will  be  cold  before  morning  up 
here." 

"  That  comes  of  living  in  a  fine  house  in  Tripoli,"  re- 
marked Mitsos.     "  Come  on,  then." 

The  two  went  very  cautiously  back  to  the  road  which 
led  up  to  the  gate  and  found  it  standing  wide  open. 

"That  ought  to  be  shut  at  dark,"  says  Mitsos;  "we 
will  go  a  little  farther." 

Still  there  was  no  living  thing  to  be  seen,  no  glimmer 
shone  from  any  house,  and  soon  Mitsos  stopped. 

"Oh,  Yanni,  I  see,"  he  said.  "They  must  have  had 
news  of  the  Kalamata  thing,  and  all  have  fled.     There's 

296 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

not  a  soul  left  in  the  place.  Come  on,  we'll  just  go  to 
the  top  of  the  street." 

They  left  the  horse  for  the  time  in  the  outer  court  of 
a  mosque  which  stood  near  the  gate,  and  advanced  cau- 
tiously up  the  steep,  cobbled  road.  Everywhere  the  same 
silence  and  signs  of  panic-stricken  flight  prevailed.  Here 
a  silk-covered  sofa  blocked  the  doorway  of  a  house ;  far- 
ther on  they  came  upon  a  couple  of  embroidered  Turkish 
dresses ;  a  big  illuminated  Koran  lay  with  leaves  flapping 
in  the  evening  wind  on  a  door-step,  and  outside  the  old 
Byzantine  church  at  the  top  of  the  street,  which  had  been 
turned  into  a  mosque  by  the  Turks,  stood  two  immense 
silver  candlesticks,  four  feet  high,  and  each  holding 
some  twenty  tapers.  Yanni  looked  thoughtfully  at  these 
for  a  minute. 

''  It  is  in  my  mind,"  he  said,  "that  I  will  eat  my  din- 
ner by  the  light  of  fine  silver  candlesticks.  Pick  up  the 
other,  cousin ;  I  can't  carry  both.  Holy  Virgin,  how 
heavy  they  are  !" 

"  Where  are  we  to  take  them  ?"  asked  Mitsos. 

"  To  a  nice  house,  where  we  will  have  supper,''  says 
Yanni.  "  I  saw  such  a  one  as  I  came  up.  There  was  a 
barrel  of  wine  outside  it,  and  my  stomach  cries  for  plenty 
of  good  wine.  Oh,  here's  a  woman's  dress.  Eh,  what 
a  smart  woman  this  must  have  been  !" 

The  house  which  Yanni  had  noticed  was  a  two-storied 
cafe,  standing  a  little  back  from  the  street.  The  upper 
rooms  were  reached  by  an  outside  staircase  from  the 
garden,  and  as  they  went  up  to  it  a  cat,  the  only  live 
thing  they  had  seen,  looked  at  them  a  moment  with 
mournful  eyes,  and  then,  deciding  that  they  were  to  be 
trusted,  put  up  an  arched,  confiding  back  against  Mitsos' 
leg,  and  made  a  poker  of  her  tail.  Below,  the  house 
was  of  three  rooms,  the  outer  of  which,  looking  over  the 

297 


THE    VINTAGE 

plain,  was  full  of  the  signs  of  flight.  A  long  Turkish 
narghile,  with  an  amber  mouth-piece,  was  overturned 
on  the  floor,  and  on  one  of  the  little  coffee  tables  stood 
another  pipe  half  filled  with  unsmoked  tobacco,  while  the 
silk  pouch  from  which  it  was  supplied  lay  unrolled  be- 
side it,  and  on  a  shelf  were  four  or  five  long -stemmed 
chibouks.  A  long  divan,  smothered  in  cushions,  ran 
round  three  sides  of  the  room,  and  the  cat,  in  the  belief 
that  her  friends  were  coming  back,  jumped  lightly  into 
her  accustomed  place  and  looked  at  the  boys,  blinking 
and  purring  contentedly.  The  second  room  was  full  of 
cans  of  coffee  and  tobacco,  and  on  a  table  in  the  centre 
stood  a  dish  with  two  chickens,  one  wholly  plucked,  the 
other  but  half  denuded,  and  by  it  an  earthenware  bowl 
of  water,  in  which  were  cool,  green  lettuces.  The  third 
room  was  a  stable  for  horses  ;  a  manger  full  of  fresh  hay 
ran  down  one  side,  and  in  the  opposite  corner  were  an 
oven  and  a  heap  of  charcoal.  The  fire  had  gone  out  and 
was  only  a  heap  of  white,  feathery  ash,  while  on  the  ex- 
tinguished embers  still  stood  two  little  brass  coffee  jugs, 
their  contents  half  boiled  away.  Yanni  smiled  serenely 
when  they  had  finished  their  examination. 

'^You  will  sup  with  me  to-night,  cousin  V  he  asked, 
pompously.  '^Oh,  Mitsos,  but  this  is  a  soft  thing  we 
have  hit  upon." 

Mitsos  walked  back  into  the  outer  room,  where  he 
closed  the  wooden  shutters  and  lit  all  the  candles. 

"  Nice  little  candlesticks,"  he  said,  approvingly.  "  How 
I  wish  the  owner  of  the  house  could  see  us.  Wouldn't 
he  howl  r 

Up-stairs  there  were  two  rooms — one  with  two  beds  in 
it,  the  other  with  one.  The  beds  were  still  unmade, 
just  as  they  had  been  slept  in,  and  Mitsos  pulled  off  the 
sheets  disdainfully,  for  he  would  not  lie  where  a  Turk 

298 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

had  been.  Then,  while  Yanni  kindled  the  fire  to  boil 
the  chickens,  he  rummaged  in  the  store-room. 

^'  A  pot  of  little  anchovies,  Yanni,"  he  remarked  ; 
"  they  will  come  first  to  give  us  an  appetite.  Thus  I 
shall  have  two  appetites,  for  I  have  one  already.  By  the 
Virgin !  there  is  tobacco  too,  all  ready  in  the  pipes.  We 
shall  pass  a  very  pleasant  evening,  I  hope.  Oh,  there's 
the  horse  still  waiting  at  the  gate.  I  will  go  and  fetch 
him;  and  be  quick  with  the  supper,  pig.''' 

Yanni  laughed. 

^'Really  the  Turk  is  a  very  convenient  man,''  he  said. 
''  I  like  wars.  We  can  take  provisions  from  here  which 
will  last  to  Nauplia.  There  will  be  no  skulking  about 
villages  after  dark  to  buy  bread  and  wine  without  being 
noticed." 

Yanni  put  the  chicken  to  boil,  and  while  Mitsos 
fetched  the  horse,  having  nothing  more  to  do,  he  amused 
himself  by  trying  on  the  dress  of  the  Turkish  woman 
which  they  had  found  in  the  street.  The  big  black 
bernous  concealed  the  deficiencies  of  the  skirt,  which 
only  came  to  his  knees,  and  he  had  finished  adjusting 
the  veil,  and  had  sat  down  chastely  on  a  corner  of  the 
settee,  when  he  heard  Mitsos  come  up  the  street  and 
call  to  him  from  the  stable.  So  he  got  up  and  went  on 
tiptoe  out  of  the  house  and  round  to  the  other  door,  and 
Mitsos  looking  up  saw  a  Turkish  woman  peeping  in,  who 
screamed  in  shrill  falsetto  when  she  saw  him.  For  one 
moment  he  thought  that  somehow  or  other  this  was  Su- 
leima,  but  the  next  moment  he  had  rushed  after  Yanni 
and  hauled  him  in. 

^'Is  not  my  supper  ready,  woman?"  he  cried,  *'and 
why  do  you  not  attend  to  your  master  ?" 

They  ate  their  dinner  in  the  best  of  spirits,  for  that  the 
hated  and  despised  Turk,  whose  destruction  was  their 

299 


THE    VINTAGE 

mission,  should  board  and  lodge  them  so  handsomely 
seemed  one  of  the  best  jokes.  Mitsos  every  now  and 
then  broke  into  a  huge  grin  as  he  made  fearful  inroads 
upon  the  food  and  wine,  and  Yanni  kept  ejaculating  : 
''Very  good  chicken  of  the  Turk.  The  best  wine  of  the 
Turk ;  give  me  some  lettuce  of  the  Turk.  I  wish  we 
could  take  the  candlesticks,  Mitsos ;  but  perhaps  two 
peasant  boys  with  heavy  silver  sticks  four  feet  high  slung 
on  their  mules  might  attract  attention.^' 

The  moon  had  risen  soon  after  sunset,  and  after  din- 
ner they  sat  smoking  in  the  garden,  which  was  planted 
with  pomegranates  and  peach  -  trees,  and  fringed  by  a 
row  of  cypresses,  which  looked  black  in  the  moonlight. 
All  was  perfectly  still  but  for  the  sleepy  prattle  of  the 
stream  below.  Now  and  then  a  nightingale  gave  out  a 
throatful  of  song,  or  some  spray  of  asphodel,  ripe  to 
the  core,  cracked  and  scattered  its  seed  round  it.  The 
cat  prowled  about  the  garden,  now  creeping  through  the 
shadow  of  the  trees,  or  flattening  herself  out  on  the 
ground,  and  now  making  springs  at  some  imaginary  prey 
in  the  moonlight,  and  when  they  went  up-stairs  she  pre- 
ceded them,  and,  jumping  onto  Mitsos^  bed,  lay  purring 
like  a  tea-kettle. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   ADVEN^TURE    OF   THE    FIRE-SHIP 

They  started  again  early  the  next  morning,  having 
loaded  the  pony  with  provisions,  for  Yanni  preferred 
to  suffer  from  his  blister  than  from  hunger,  and  struck 
in  a  southeasterly  direction  across  the  plain,  leaving 
Sparta  with  its  red  roofs  and  olive -groves  on  the  left, 
over  low  hills  of  red  earth,  covered  in  this  spring-time 
with  cistus  in  full  flower,  tall  white  heather,  and  myrtle 
in  the  freshness  of  its  fragrant  leaf.  About  two  hours' 
going  brought  them  to  the  Eurotas,  flowing  clear  and 
bright  over  its  shining  pebble -bed,  on  which  the  sun- 
light drew  a  diaper  of  light  and  shade,  sliding  on  from 
pool  to  shallow,  and  shallow  to  rapid,  and  ford  to  ford. 
Here  Mitsos,  who  in  his  inland  life  pined  for  the  am- 
phibious existence  of  Nauplia,  came  upon  a  deep  pool, 
and  in  a  moment  was  stripped  and  swimming.  From 
there  another  two  hours  led  them  across  the  plain  to  the 
foot  of  the  hills,  where  they  halted  and  ate  their  mid- 
day meal,  looking  across  the  green  plain  to  where  Tay- 
getus,  rising  in  gray  shoulder  over  shoulder,  met  the  sky 
in  a  spear-head  of  snow. 

So  for  two  more  days  they  went  on,  sleeping  some- 
times during  the  middle  of  the  day  under  the  shade  of 
aromatic  pines,  or  behind  some  bluff  of  earth  in  a  dry 
torrent-bed,  and  as  they  got  nearer  to  Tripoli  and  Argos, 
marching  through  the  cool,  still  night  over  shoulders  and 

301 


THE    VINTAGE 

outstretched  limbs  of  mountain  range,  or  down  through 
silent  valle3^s  all  aflush  with  spring,  and  spending  the 
daylight  hours  in  some  sheltered  nook  or  cave,  each 
keeping  alternate  watches  while  the  other  slept.  Thus 
came  they  down  to  Myloi,  where  they  were  to  get  the 
boat  which  should  take  them  across  the  bay,  early  one 
morning  while  it  was  still  dark.  So  once  again  in  the 
sweetness  of  sunrise  Mitsos  saw  the  blue  mirror  of  the 
bay  spread  out  smooth  and  clear  at  his  feet,  and  the  first 
rays  of  morning  sparkling  on  the  town  at  the  other  side, 
turning  the  damp  roofs  to  sheets  of  gold,  and  on  a  white 
house  at  the  head  of  the  bay,  where  his  heart  was. 

They  were  home  by  nine  o'clock,  and  from  there  they 
could  see  plainly  the  great  Turkish  ship,  as  large  as  a 
church,  lying  close  to  the  quay,  showing  that  they  were 
in  time.  The  attack,  as  Petrobey  had  told  Mitsos,  must, 
of  course,  be  at  night,  and  through  the  cafe-keeper  Lelas 
they  learned  that  she  would  sail  the  same  evening  at 
midnight,  or  thereabouts.  This  was  quite  to  their  con- 
venience, for  had  she  sailed  during  the  day  they  would 
have  had  to  follow  her  till  the  fall  of  night  gave  cover  to 
their  approach,  thus,  perhaps,  attracting  suspicion,  and 
certainly  finding  themselves  many  miles  from  home  out 
at  sea  when  their  work  was  done.  Lelas,  the  cafe-keep- 
er, to  whom  they  were  referred,  showed  them  the  caique 
which  Nicholas  had  told  him  to  keep  for  Mitsos,  and  the 
boy,  saying  that  he  would  go  out  a  little  way  at  once  to 
see  how  it  sailed,  got  into  it,  leaving  Yanni  on  the  shore. 
The  latter  winked  at  Mitsos  as  he  got  in,  and  remarking 
"  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  go  with  you,"  for  he  knew  precise- 
ly where  Mitsos  was  going,  though  his  chance  of  seeing 
Suleima  by  day  was  absolutely  nil,  went  back  to  Con- 
stantino's house  and  waited  patiently  for  his  return. 

Lelas,  who  was  an  arrant  gossip-monger,  had  the  news 
303 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

of  the  town :  the  Turks  were  flying  in  all  directions,  some 
to  Tripoli,  some  to  Constantinople,  some  to  Athens,  such 
was  their  consternation  at  the  taking  of  Kalamata.  Many 
of  those  about  Nauplia  were  going  on  board  the  war- 
ship, which  was  bound  for  the  Piraeus,  and  to  return  with 
arms.  "And  tell  me,"  he  said,  "what  is  Mitsos  going 
to  do  with  the  caique  ?  I  am  sure  it  is  some  plot  against 
the  Turk." 

But  Yanni,  seeing  Nicholas  had  not  thought  fit  to  tell 
him,  denied  any  knowledge  of  the  purpose  of  the  boat. 

Meantime  Mitsos  had  put  out,  and  was  sailing  straight 
to  the  white  wall.  The  wind  was  blowing  lightly  from 
the  east,  and  he  ran  straight  before  it.  The  boat,  slimly 
built  and  carrying  more  sail  than  his,  was  certainly  a 
faster  goer  than  his  own  before  the  wind,  and  he  suspect- 
ed would  sail  closer  to  it.  Certainly  it  took  the  air  like 
a  bird,  and,  though  the  breeze  was  but  light,  was  a  very 
sea-gull  for  moving.  That,  no  doubt,  was  why  Nicholas, 
whose  knowledge  of  boats  was  as  of  one  who  had  never 
set  foot  on  dry  land,  had  chosen  it,  and  Mitsos  glanced 
towards  the  big  ship  moored  off  the  quay  at  Nauplia, 
and  mentally  gave  it  fifteen  minutes'  start  in  an  hour's 
run.     "  And,  oh,  I  love  a  blaze  !"  thought  he. 

Twenty  minutes'  scudding  brought  him  nearly  up  to 
the  wall ;  there  he  took  in  the  sail  and  drifted.  There 
was  no  one  on  the  terrace  ;  that  was  unusual  on  a  fine 
morning,  when  there  were  often  two  or  three  of  the  ser- 
vants about,  or  a  woman  from  the  harem.  How  quiet  it 
looked  !  Yet,  though  he  did  not  see  Suleima,  it  was 
something  to  know  she  was  near,  sitting,  it  might  be,  at 
the  back  of  the  garden,  or  in-doors  ;  perhaps  Zuleika  had 
the  toothache  and  she  was  unapproachable  ;  perhaps  the 
two  were  talking  together  ;  perhaps  they  were  talking  of 
him,  wondering  when  he  would  come  again.  .  .  . 

303 


THE    VINTAGE 

In  the  farther  of  the  two  walls  running  back  from  the 
sea  was  a  small  door,  and  Mitsos'  boat  had  drifted  till 
this  appeared  in  view,  and  looking  up  from  his  revery  he 
saw  that  it  was  open.  This  was  even  more  unusual ; 
never  had  he  seen  it  open  before,  and  he  sat  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two  frowning,  wondering  at  it.  Then  suddenly 
the  smile  was  struck  dead  on  his  face ;  a  possibility  too 
horrible  for  thought,  suggested  by  those  open  doors  at 
Mistra,  had  dawned  on  him,  and  regardless  of  imprudence 
he  took  up  an  oar,  put  the  boat  to  land,  and  tying  it  up 
went  straight  to  the  open  door.  The  garden  was  empty, 
the  house-door  was  open,  and,  more  convincing  than  all, 
a  hare  ran  across  the  path  and  hid  itself  in  the  tangle  of 
a  flower-bed. 

Then  with  a  flash  the  horrible  possibility  became  a  cer- 
tainty to  his  mind.  The  house  was  empty  and  deserted  ; 
Abdul  and  the  household  had  fled ;  a  ship  was  now  at 
Nauplia  to  carry  away  the  fugitives  ;  that  ship  he  was 
going  to  destroy,  consigning  all  on  it  to  a  death  among 
flames  from  which  there  was  no  escape.  Abdul  was 
surely  there,  and  with  Abdul  and  his  household  .  .  . 

Mitsos  stood  there  a  long  minute  with  wide,  unseeing 
eyes ;  for  a  moment  the  horror  of  his  position  drowned 
his  consciousness  as  a  blow  stuns  the  brain.  Then  as  his 
reason  came  back  to  him  he  realized  that  he  could  not, 
that  he  was  physically  unable,  to  carry  out  his  orders. 
The  fire-ship  should  not  start  —  no,  it  must  start,  for 
there  was  Yanni  with  him,  who  knew  about  it,  and  he 
cursed  himself  for  having  taken  Yanni.  But  so  be  it ;  it 
should  start,  but  something  should  go  wrong — he  would 
forget  to  take  kindling  for  it,  or,  setting  light  to  it,  it 
should  only  drift  by  the  other  and  not  harm  her.  For  it 
was  no  question  of  choice ;  he  could  not  do  this  thing. 

Thus  thought  poor  Mitsos  as  he  sailed  home  again.  It 
304 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

seemed  to  him  that  nothing  in  the  world  mattered  ex- 
cept Suleima,  and  by  the  bitter  irony  of  fate  the  man  in 
the  world  whom  he  most  loved  and  respected  had  told 
him  to  destroy  with  all  on  board  the  ship  in  which  Su- 
leima  was.  On  the  one  hand  stood  Nicholas,  his  father, 
Petrobey,  Yanni,  and  the  whole  clan  of  those  dear,  warm- 
hearted cousins  who  had  treated  him  as  a  brother,  yet 
half  divine ;  on  the  other,  Suleima,  and  Suleima  was 
more  to  him  than  them  all ;  Suleima  was  part  of  him- 
self, dearer  than  his  hand  or  his  eye,  and  besides — be- 
sides .  .  . 

Yanni  was  having  dinner  when  he  entered  the  house, 
but  there  was  that  in  Mitsos'  face  which  made  him 
spring  up. 

"  Mitsos," he  said,  "little  Mitsos,  what  is  the  matter  ?" 

Mitsos  looked  at  him  a  moment  in  silence,  but  that 
craving  of  the  human  spirit  for  sympathy  in  trouble, 
whether  the  sympathy  is  given  by  man  or  beast,  overpow- 
ered him.  Though  in  his  own  mind  he  had  settled  that 
he  could  not  destroy  this  ship,  the  trouble  of  his  struggle 
was  sore  upon  him. 

*' Yanni,"  he  whispered,  "there  will  be  no  fire-ship. 
Abdul  has  gone,  has  fled  with  all  the  household,  with  Su- 
leima among  them.  Where  has  he  fled  but  onto  the 
ship  we  are  to  destroy  ?    I  cannot  do  it." 

Yanni  sank  down  again  in  his  chair. 

"Oh,  Mitsos,"  he  said,  "poor  Mitsos !  God  forgive  us 
all." 

Mitsos  glanced  at  him,  frowning. 

"'Poor  Mitsos  r"  he  cried;  "why  do  you  say  'poor 
Mitsos'?    Do  you  think  I  am  going  to  do  this  ?" 

"  You  are  not  going  to  do  it  ?" 

"  No  !"  shouted  Mitsos.     "  It  is  not  I  who  choose. 
There  is  no  choice.     I  cannot !" 
u  305 


THE    VINTAGE 

''  But  the  clan,  the  oath  to  obey — " 

"  There  are  bigger  things  than  clans  or  oaths.  To  hell 
with  my  oath,  to  hell  with  the  clan,"  cried  Mitsos. 

Yanni  sat  silent,  and  Mitsos  suddenly  flared  up  again. 

"  How  dare  you  sit  there,"  he  cried,  "  and  let  your 
silence  blame  me  ?  You,  whom  I  rescued  from  the 
house  of  Mehemet ;  who  but  for  me  would  have  been 
rotting  in  the  ground,  or  worse  than  that ;  you,  whom  I 
saved  when  a  cross-legged  Turk  had  you  down  on  the 
ground — " 

"  Mitsos  \"  said  Yanni,  looking  at  him  without  fear  or 
anger,  but  stung  intolerably. 

Eor  a  moment  or  two  Mitsos  sat  still,  but  then  the 
blessed  relief  of  tears  came. 

'*  What  have  I  said  to  you,  Yanni  ?"  he  sobbed.  "  0 
God,  forgive  me,  for  I  know  not  what  I  said ;  yet — yet 
how  can  I  do  this  ?  Oh,  of  course  you  are  right,  and  I — 
I — Yanni,  is  it  not  hard  ?  What  was  it  I  said  to  you  ? 
Something  devilish,  I  know.  Don't  give  me  up,  Yanni ; 
there  is  none — there  will  soon  be  none  who  loves  me  as 
you  do." 

Yanni's  great  black  eyes  grew  soft  with  tears,  and  he 
put  his  arm  round  Mitsos'  neck  as  his  head  lay  on  the 
table.  ' 

"  Oh,  Mitsos !  poor  little  Mitsos  !"  he  said  again. 
*'What  is  to  be  done  ?  If  only  Nicholas  or  my  father 
knew ;  and  yet  you  could  not  and  cannot  tell  them.  Per- 
haps she  is  not  on  the  ship,  you  know." 

"  Perhaps,  perhaps — oh,  perhaps  she  is  !"  cried  Mitsos. 

The  two  sat  there  in  silence  for  a  time,  stricken  almost 
out  of  consciousness  by  this  appalling  thing.  At  last 
Mitsos  raised  his  head. 

"  There  is  nothing  more  to  be  said,"  he  muttered.  "I 
have  no  idea  what  I  shall  do.     Either  to  do  the  thing  or 

306 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

not  to  do  it  is  impossible,  and  yet  by  to-morrow  it  will  be 
done  or  left  undone.  But,  Yanni,  just  tell  me  you  for- 
give me  for  what  I  said  just  now  and  make  indulgence, 
for  this  is  a  hard,  weary  day  for  me." 

Yanni  smiled. 

*'  Forgiveness  is  no  word  from  me  to  you,  dear  Mit- 
sos,"  he  said.  ''  There  is  nothing  you  could  do  or  say 
to  me  for  which  you  need  ask  that." 

Mitsos  looked  up  at  him  with  dumb,  dry  eyes  and  a 
quivering  mouth. 

"  Forget  it,  too,  Yanni,  and  tell  me  it  will  make  no 
change  between  us,  for,  in  truth,  I  do  not  know  what  I 
said.^^ 

"  There,  there,"  said  Yanni,  soothingly.  ''  The  thing 
is  not,  it  never  has  been." 

The  hours  went  on  slowly  and  silently.  Mitsos  said 
nothing,  but  lay  in  the  veranda  like  some  suffering  ani- 
mal that  has  crept  away  to  die  alone  of  a  mortal  wound, 
and  Yanni  was  wise  enough  to  leave  him  quite  to  him- 
self, for  his  struggle  was  one  that  had  to  be  wrestled  out 
alone  without  help  or  sympathy  from  others.  But  grad- 
ually and  very  slowly  the  mist  of  irresolution  passed 
away  from  Mitsos^  brain,  and  he  felt  that  he  would  de- 
cide one  way  or  the  other.  Meantime  the  sun  had  sunk 
to  its  setting,  and  Yanni  prepared  food  and  took  some 
with  wine  out  to  Mitsos. 

''Eat,  drink,"  he  said.  "You  have  not  eaten  since 
morning." 

''  I  am  not  hungry,"  said  Mitsos,  listlessly. 

For  answer  Yanni  took  up  the  glass  of  wine  and  held 
it  to  him. 

"  Drink  it  quickly,  Mitsos ;  you  are  faint  for  some- 
thing," he  said,  ''and  then  I  will  take  it  and  fill  it 
again." 

307 


THE    VINTAGE 

Mitsos  obeyed  like  a  sick  child,  and  Yanni  took  the 
glass  and  brought  it  back  full.  This  time  he  waited  a 
moment,  and  then  said  : 

"You  must  make  up  your  mind,  Mitsos.  If  you  set- 
tle to  do  nothing,  tell  me,  and  I  must  think  for  myself." 

Mitsos  nodded. 

"  I  will  come  in  in  half  an  hour  and  tell  you,"  he  said. 
"  That  will  be  time  enough.  Please  leave  me  alone 
again,  Yanni ;  it  is  better  so." 

Yanni  went  back  into  the  house.  His  warm-hearted 
nature,  and  his  intense  love  for  Mitsos,  made  him  suf- 
fer to  the  complement  of  his  capacity  of  suffering.  He 
would  willingly  have  changed  places  with  Mitsos  had  it 
been  possible,  for  he  felt  he  could  not  suffer  more,  but 
so  the  other  would  suffer  less.  Oh,  poor  Mitsos,  whose 
strength  and  habit  of  laughter  availed  him  nothing  ! 

It  was  less  than  half  an  hour  later  when  Mitsos  came 
in.  His  face  was  drawn  and  white,  and  he  felt  deadly 
tired.  He  did  not  look  at  Yanni,  but  merely  stood  in  the 
doorway,  his  eyes  cast  down. 

"Come,  Yanni,"  he  said,  "it  is  time  we  should  start. 
Where  are  the  cans  of  turpentine  and  the  wood  ?" 

"  In  the  boat ;  I  put  them  there." 

Mitsos  looked  up  at  him  sharply. 

"  So  you  meant  to  do  it  yourself  if  I  did  not  ?" 

"  I  meant  to  try." 

Men  walk  firmly  to  the  scaffold  when  they  are  to  die 
for  a  good  cause,  and  martyrs  have  seen  their  wives  and 
children  tortured  or  burned  before  their  eyes  and  waver- 
ed not,  and  it  was  this  courage  of  absolute  conviction 
which  nerved  the  poor  lad  now.  With  his  whole  heart 
he  believed  in  the  right  of  this  exterminating  war  against 
the  Turk ;  he  had  put  himself  unreservedly  at  the  ser- 
vice of  its  leaders,  and  there  was  an  order  laid  on  him. 

308 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

He  had  made  of  himself  a  part  of  a  machine,  and  should 
a  jarring  axle  speak  to  the  driver  and  say  it  would  go 
no  farther,  or  bid  him  stop  the  whole  gear  ?  Thus  it 
was  that,  with  a  firm  step  and  with  no  tenderness,  but 
only  despair  and  conviction  clutching  at  a  cold  heart, 
he  walked  down  with  Yanni  to  the  beach,  and,  having 
looked  over  all  the  apparatus  and  seen  that  nothing  was 
wanting,  pushed  off,  and,  helping  him  to  set  the  sail, 
took  his  place  at  the  helm. 

The  enterprise  they  were  embarked  upon  was  danger- 
ous. The  caique  in  which  they  sat  was  piled  with  inflam- 
mable materials  and  a  cargo  of  brushwood,  and  carried 
four  large  cans  of  turpentine,  with  which  they  would 
presently  soak  the  sails.  They  were  to  run  up  to  the 
Turkish  ship,  tie  their  boat  up  to  it,  or  entangle  it  in 
the  rigging,  set  fire  .to  it,  and  jump  into  the  small  boat 
they  towed  behind  them  and  row  off.  The  flames  would 
spread  like  lightning  over  the  boat,  giving  them  hardly 
a  second  to  escape,  and  they  might  easily  be  seen  and 
shot  at  while  they  were  lighting  her  before  they  could 
row  off ;  and  this  element  of  danger,  perhaps,  was  a  help 
to  poor  Mitsos. 

The  night  at  least  was  favorable  to  their  adventure, 
being  thickly  clouded  and  with  a  fine  fresh  breeze,  thus 
enabling  them  to  come  up  quickly,  and  also  under  cover 
of  darkness.  Otherwise  the  moon,  which  was  nearly 
full,  would  have  doubled  their  peril.  The  wind  was 
from  the  east  of  north,  so  that  the  ship  would  probably 
run  straight  before  it  for  a  mile  or  so  before  turning 
south  out  of  the  gulf,  and  the  time  to  attack  her  would 
be  just  when  she  turned,  for  she  would  then  be  far  enough 
from  the  shore  to  render  her  destruction  inevitable,  and 
the  moment  of  slack  speed  as  she  put  about  would  enable 
them  to  run  into  her  the  more  easily.     At  present  they 

309 


THE    VINTAGE 

would  approach  within  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  lie 
there  waiting  for  her  to  put  out. 

There  was  still  plenty  of  time,  and  when  Mitsos  let  the 
boat  run  before  the  wind  instead  of  going  straight  to 
Nauplia,  Yanni  had  no  need  to  ask  him  why,  for  he  knew 
where  he  was  going,  and  kept  his  eyes  away,  for  he  could 
not  bear  to  see  Mitsos'  agony.  For  a  little  while  the 
hardness  and  conviction  had  left  him,  and  the  hour  of 
his  agony  was  on  him  again.  And  as  they  neared  the 
white  wall,  which  glimmered  faintly  under  the  cloudy 
night,  he  thought  his  heart  would  break  within  him. 
They  passed  it  quickly  under  the  ever-freshening  breeze, 
and  Mitsos  looked  at  it  as  a  man  looks  on  the  dead  form 
of  his  dearest,  the  house  which  she  had  inhabited  in  life. 
To  him  Suleima  was  dead,  a  memory  only  insufferably 
sweet,  ineffably  bitter,  and  when  the  wall  faded  again 
into  the  blackness  he  felt  as  if  he  had  buried  her  whom 
he  had  loved  and  murdered.  Then  putting  about,  they 
ran  past  the  island  and  saw  the  lights  of  Nauplia  grow 
nearer  and  larger. 

In  the  foreground  was  the  tall,  black  hull  of  the  Turk- 
ish ship  outlined  with  lights.  The  deck  was  brilliantly 
lit,  and  they  could  hear  sounds  of  talking  and  laughing 
coming  from  it.  The  sailors  were  evidently  preparing 
to  put  to  sea,  for  now  and  then  little  figures  of  men  like 
small  insects  would  move  up  the  lines  of  rigging,  adjust- 
ing rope  or  block  with  busy  antennas,  and  loud  voices 
seemed  to  be  shouting  orders.  Then  a  bell  rang  on 
board,  and  a  rope -end  splashed  into  the  water  and  was 
pulled  on  deck. 

They  had  drifted  a  little  out  to  sea,  and  Mitsos  tacked 
back  again  to  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  ship, 
and  finding  shallow  water,  cast  anchor.  Two  long  hours 
went  by,  but  neither  spoke ;  only  the  freshening  wind 
''  310 


THE  TREADING  OE  THE  GRAPES 

whistled  in  the  rigging,  the  clouds  promised  a  stormy 
night,  and  on  board  the  Turkish  ship  they  made  ready 
to  go  to  sea.  A  row  of  open  port-holes  showed  a  neck- 
lace of  light,  each  light  waking  a  column  of  reflection 
from  the  waters  of  the  bay.  Then  a  lantern  was  hoisted 
up  onto  the  foremast,  and  another  run  out  in  the  bows. 
Presently  after  came  the  grating  sound  of  the  anchor 
being  pulled  home,  and  a  small  sail  was  set,  sufficient  in 
this  wind  to  take  her  slowly  out  of  the  harbor.  Now  a 
light  in  the  town  was  hidden  behind  her  bows,  and  an- 
other sprang  up  from  behind  the  stern  ;  she  moved  along 
the  quay  stately  and  slow,  and,  clear  of  the  buoy  at  the 
end,  she  put  up  another  sail. 

Mitsos  watched  her  intently,  and  then,  without  a  word, 
he  pulled  up  the  anchor  and  ran  up  the  sail,  and  silently 
they  went  in  pursuit.  But  their  light  boat  went  too  fast 
with  its  sail  full  spread,  and  when  they  had  approached 
again  to  within  two  or  three  hundred  yards  he  took  in  a 
couple  of  reefs,  which  equalized  their  speed,  or,  if  any- 
thing, allowed  the  other  to  gain  on  them  a  little.  And 
so  they  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  great  condemned  ship 
out  past  the  harbor  lights,  round  the  end  of  the  penin- 
sula beyond  the  town,  and  into  the  black,  foam  -  flecked 
gulf  outside.  The  lights  grew  small  and  far  away,  the 
land  faded  to  a  dark  shadow,  which  brooded  on  the  hori- 
zon, and  the  two  crafts,  one  with  its  immense  cargo  of 
human  creatures,  the  other  with  a  couple  of  beardless 
Greek  lads — but  with  how  strange  a  burden  of  anguish 
and  destruction  ! — were  shut  off  from  all  sound  and  sight 
except  the  threats  of  rising  waves. 

Then  Mitsos  rose,  and  pointing  to  the  cans  of  turpen- 
tine : 

*^  Empty  one  on  the  brushwood  in  the  bows,"  he  said 
to  Yanni,  ^'and  give  me  another." 

311 


THE    VINTAGE 

He  climbed  up  the  mast,  and,  resting  the  tin  on  the 
yard,  took  out  the  cork  and  let  the  contents  dribble  down 
over  the  sail.  When  the  can  was  empty  he  came  quickly 
down  again  and  flushed  the  whole  deck  with  another  tin- 
f ul,  while  Yanni  poured  the  fourth  onto  the  remainder 
of  the  fuel. 

Then,  in  a  hard,  dry  voice  : 

"  Let  out  the  sail,"  he  said,/'  and  climb  into  the  boat 
behind,  but  give  me  the  lantern  first." 

Yanni  handed  him  the  dark  lantern  first,  which  they 
had  lit  before  starting,  and,  pulling  the  boat  in  under  the 
stern  of  the  caique,  jumped  on  board.  Under  the  full- 
spread  sail  they  drew  rapidly  near  the  doomed  ship,  and 
when  they  were  within  a  hundred  yards  they  heard  its 
rudder  splash  and  stir  like  some  great  fish  under  water, 
and  the  speed  slackened  as  she  turned  south.  Mitsos, 
who  had  never  felt  cooler  or  more  collected  in  his  life, 
went  straight  on,  so  as  to  strike  her  sideways  below  the 
huge,  overhanging  stern.  He  calculated  to  perfection 
the  speed  they  were  going  and  the  distance,  and  just  as 
Yanni  became  aware  of  a  great  black  thing  with  a  panel 
of  light  in  it  overhead,  he  heard  a  crash,  and  broken 
glass  fell  over  him.  The  mast  of  the  caique  had  gone 
right  through  one  of  the  windows  in  the  stern.  Their 
boat  gave  a  great  lurch,  and  Mitsos  sprang  off  into  the 
small  boat  astern,  still  with  the  lantern  in  his  hand. 

"  Quick,  quick  !"  he  said,  ''  that  I  cannot  do." 

Yanni  jumped  up,  and,  crouching  beneath  the  stern  of 
the  caique,  thrust  the  lantern  open  into  a  heap  of  brush- 
wood impregnated  with  turpentine.  It  caught  and  flared 
up  in  a  moment,  and  while  from  the  Turkish  ship  came 
sudden  confused  sounds  and  runnings  to  and  fro,  the 
flame  leaped  along  the  caique  from  stern  to  bow,  ran 
like  a  flash  of  lightning  up  the  sail,  and  was  driven  by  the 

312 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

wind  with  a  roar  right  into  the  broken  panel.  Next  mo- 
ment Mitsos,  having  cast  loose  their  smaller  boat,  pushed 
off  backward  into  the  darkness,  and  both  the  boys,  seizing 
their  oars,  rowed  for  life.  But  the  blaze  between  them 
and  the  ship  had  made  it  impossible  for  those  on  board 
to  see  them,  and  after  five  minutes  or  so  Yanni,  blown 
and  streaming  with  perspiration,  saw  Mitsos  drop  his 
oar  and  sink  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  boat  and  lie 
there  as  if  dead. 

Round  three-quarters  of  the  horizon  was  dense  dark- 
ness, inhabited  only  by  the  rushing  wind,  but  in  front  a 
column  of  fire  rose  up,  crowned  with  clouds  of, smoke. 
The  flames  leaped  up  over  the  stern  of  the  ship,  the  steers- 
man fled  for  his  life  farther  forward,  and  left  to  itself 
the  ship  swung  round  into  the  wind,  dragging  its  de- 
stroyer behind  it,  the  flames  from  which,  driven  straight 
before  it,  licked  greedily  round  the  timbers  of  its  victim. 
In  a  few  moments  the  tar  in  the  seams  began  to  melt  and 
run,  breaking  into  flame  like  burning  sealing-wax,  and 
the  planks  of  the  upper  decks  were  parted  a  fraction  of 
an  inch  as  it  oozed  out.  Then  the  timbers  themselves 
began  to  fizzle  and  crack,  giving  each  moment  new  crev- 
ices and  footholds  for  the  fire,  and  the  window  where 
the  mast  of  the  caique  had  penetrated  showed  red  burn- 
ing lips,  like  a  horrible  square  mouth.  Volumes  of  smoke 
began  to  pour  forward  between  the  decks,  driving  those 
who  were  throwing  unavailing  water  onto  the  flames  to 
the  upper  deck,  to  make  another  hopeless  attempt  from 
there.  The  women  and  children  ran  forward  with  shrill 
screams,  and  could  be  seen  standing  like  a  flock  of  fright- 
ened sheep  huddled  together.  Then  a  boat  was  let  down, 
but  before  it  touched  the  water  a  tongue  of  flame  sprang 
out  from  one  of  the  big,  square  port-holes  below  it,  driv- 
ing upward  so  fiercely  that  those  who  were  holding  the 

813 


THE    VINTAGE 

ropes  let  go  and  it  fell  splashing  into  the  sea.  Soon  with 
a  crash  the  aft  part  of  the  deck,  all  charred  and  no  longer 
able  to  support  its  own  weight,  fell  in  a  huge  shower  of 
embers  and  half-burned  or  blazing  pieces  of  timber,  and 
again  the  flames  leaped  higher  and  moved  forward  along 
the  ship.  The  iron  davits  supporting  the  boat  correspond- 
ing to  that  which  had  fallen  into  the  sea,  still  stood  firm, 
and  the  boat  itself  hung  unburned  for  some  ten  minutes, 
till  the  fire  reaching  up  caught  it,  and  set  it  blazing, 
hanging  there  apart  and  separate  from  the  greater  con- 
flagration like  a  huge  burning  signal  of  distress.  Soon, 
howevef,  the  side  of  the  ship  which  held  the  davits  fell 
in,  and  the  boat  dropped  blazing  into  the  water.  The 
fire  had  now  reached  to  the  main-mast,  and  in  a  moment 
caught  the  sail.  Then  after  a  few  seconds,  in  w^hich  the 
smoke  redoubled  itself,  the  great  sheet  of  canvas  caught 
and  flared  up  in  a  pillar  of  flame.  Great  burned  pieces 
fell  off  and  strewed  the  deck ;  other  lighter  fragments 
were  borne  away  like  birds  in  the  wind  and  fled  seaward, 
flapping  and  blazing.  Then,  with  another  crash,  a  second 
portion  of  the  deck  fell  in,  and,  mingled  with  the  noise 
the  shrill  chorus  of  despair  from  the  women,  rose  higher 
and  higher.  Some  jumped  overboard  and  found  their 
death  in  what  might  have  been  their  safety ;  others  ran 
up  and  down  the  deck,  which  grew  ever  hotter  and  more 
blistered,  and  now  scribbled  over  by  lines  of  burning 
pitch ;  some  seized  up  water-cans  and  buckets,  and  tried 
even  then  to  stop  the  flames ;  and  more  than  one  man  ran 
to  where  the  flames  were  fiercest,  preferring  to  die  at  once. 
ThenVithout  warning  came  the  end.  A  frightful  explo- 
sion tore  the  air ;  the  ship  parted  in  the  middle,  for  the 
flame  had  reached  the  powder-magazine,  and  in  smoke  and 
steam  and  human  cries  she  went  down,  and  a  minute  after- 
wards there  was  silence  but  for  the  wind  and  blackness. 

314 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

The  explosion  roused  Mitsos  and  he  looked  up. 

''  What  was  that  ?''  he  said  to  Yanni. 

"It  is  all  over,"  replied  Yanni.  *^She  exploded  and 
went  down." 

"  All  over,  thank  God !"  and  he  sank  down  again. 

Yanni  bent  to  the  oars,  for  it  was  hard  work  against 
the  wind,  and  in  an  hour  or  so  he  saw  the  lights  on  the 
quay  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off.  It  was  still 
crowded  with  people  who  had  been  watching  the  fire,  and 
he  kept  out  in  the  darkness  until  he  had  passed  it,  and 
then  came  in  closer  to  the  shore,  so  as  to  be  shielded  a 
little  from  the  wind  by  the  land,  and  rowed  steadily  on 
till  he  came  to  the  landing-place  opposite  Mitsos'  house. 
Then  he  touched  the  other  on  the  shoulder. 

"  Get  up,  dear  Mitsos,"  he  said,  "  we  are  here." 

Mitsos  raised  himself  and  followed  Yanni  across  the 
road  to  the  house.  They  went  in,  locking  the  door  be- 
hind them,  and  Mitsos,  still  silent,  lay  down  on  the 
window -seat,  staring  out  dry- eyed  into  the  darkness. 
But  in  a  few  moments  a  knock  came,  and  Yanni  went  to 
the  door  to  see  who  it  was. 

"  It  is  I,  Lelas,"  said  a  voice. 

Yanni  unwillingly  undid  the  door,  and  the  fat,  urbane 
cafe-keeper  came  in,  smiling. 

*'Eh,  but  you  two  have  lost  a  fine  sight,"  he  said.  "A 
Turkish  ship  blazing  down  to  the  water's-edge,  and  then 
bang  she  went ;  and  there'll  not  be  a  soul  to  tell  the  tale." 

Mitsos,  in  his  window-seat,  shuddered  and  half  sat  up. 

"  I  wish  there  had  been  more  on  board,"  continued 
Lelas.  "  Why,  Fd  have  given  a  week's  wage  if  th^t  old 
Abdul  and  his  poultry-yard  of  women  had  been  there." 

Next  moment  he  was  aware  of  two  great  hands  half 
throttling  him. 

"^  Abdul  who  ?  Which  Abdul  ?"  said  Mitsos,  his  face 
315 


THE    VINTAGE 

close  to  Lelas,  and  hissing  out  the  words.  '^  Speak,  5^ou 
damned  pig  of  the  pit/' 

"Abdul — this  Abdul  here — let  go — Abdul  Achmet,  of 
course.  He  and  his  went  to  Tripoli  yesterday.  May  you 
burn  in  hell  for  throttling  me,  you  young  devil." 

But  Mitsos  heard  nothing  after  "Abdul  Achmet.'^ 
He  dropped  his  hold  on  Lelas  and  stood  looking  across  at 
Yanni  a  minute,  while  new  life  ran  in  spate  through  his 
veins.  Then  he  flung  his  arm  round  the  neck  of  the 
astonished  Lelas  and  kissed  him  on  the  cheek. 

"  Oh,  fat  man,  but  I  love  you  for  what  you  have  said," 
he  cried.  "  Yanni,  Yanni,  we  will  make  the  fat  man 
drunk  with  wine,  for  he  has  made  me  drunk  with  Joy. 
Oh,  oh—'' 

And  he  flung  out  of  the  room  with  a  great  shout. 

Lelas  felt  his  neck  tenderly. 

"  Is  Mitsos  quite  mad,  or  only  a  little  mad  ?"  he  asked, 
severely. 

"  Quite  mad,  I  think,"  said  Yanni.  "  Oh,  little  Mit- 
sos— wait  a  minute." 

He  found  him  outside,  but  the  dry-eyed  anguish  was 
turned  to  a  joy  which  brimmed  his  eyes.  Yanni  thrust 
his  arm  through  his  and  they  stood  there  a  moment  in 
silence,  and  had  no  need  of  speech ;  nor  indeed  were 
there  words  in  which  they  could  frame  their  joy  of  heart. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  TRAINING   OF  THE  TROOPS 

Into  the  Greek  camp  on  Taygetns  there  came  flock- 
ing day  by  day  fresh  bands  of  recruits  from  all  the  coun- 
try-side, and  in  the  mouths  of  all  were  fresh  tales  of  the 
rise  of  the  Greeks.  The  taking  of  Kalamata  had  been 
spark  to  tinder,  and  in  a  hundred  villages  the  patriots 
had  risen,  attacking  and  slaughtering  those  of  the  hated 
race  who  lived  among  them,  burning  their  dwellings,  and 
capturing  women  and  children.  In  other  cases,  though 
rarely,  the  Turks  had  been  prepared,  and  the  tale  was 
of  slaughter  and  pillage  among  the  Greeks ;  but  for  the 
most  part  the  oppressors  had  slumbered  on  in  their  soft, 
indolent  life  till  the  red  hand  of  vengeance  had  gripped 
them.  Inglorious  though  these  deeds  were,  they  were 
inevitable,  for  slaves  who  break  their  bonds  are  not  apt 
to  deal  judicially,  and  vengeance — that  rough  justice — 
was  in  this  case  very  just.  Then  when  the  slaughter 
was  done  the  bands  would  march  to  join  one  of  the  two 
centres  at  Kalavryta  or  on  Taygetus ;  but  for  the  most 
part  the  latter,  for  Petrobey  was  still  commander-in- 
chief,  and  to  his  army  belonged  the  prestige  of  the  siege 
and  capture  of  Kalamata. 

But  soon  the  numbers  became  unmanageable,  and  he 
and  Nicholas  at  length  resolved  to  strike  a  second  blow. 
Messenia,  in  which  the  only  stronghold  of  the  Sultan 
had  been  Kalamata,  no  longer  gave  opportunity  for  any- 

317 


THE    VINTAGE 

thing  but  guerilla  warfare,  but  in  Arcadia  there  were 
several  fortified  places  which  would  have  to  be  reduced, 
or  at  any  rate  rendered  powerless  to  send  help  to  Tripoli 
before  the  latter  place  was  attacked.  Chief  among  these 
was  Karitaena,  standing  on  a  precipitous  hill  above  the 
gorge  of  the  Alpheus,  a  fortified  town,  almost  exclu- 
sively Turkish,  and  it  was  against  this  place  that  Pe- 
trobey  suggested  the  second  attack  should  be  made.  It 
was,  indeed,  high  time  that  the  unorganized  rabble  who 
were  pouring  in  should  have  something  to  do  and  also 
learn  the  elements  of  war.  So  his  proposal  to  Nicholas 
was  that  he  should  organize  some  kind  of  regiment  out 
of  these,  taking  with  him  as  leaven  some  of  the  better- 
drilled  men  who  had  been  at  Kalamata,  besiege  and  take 
the  place,  if  possible,  and  if  not,  give  the  men  a  notion 
of  what  a  forced  march  meant,  and  some  idea  of  military 
discipline.  Meantime  Petrobey  would  move  his  quar- 
ters into  the  hills  between  the  upper  Arcadian  plain  and 
Tripoli,  so  that  in  case  of  disaster  Nicholas  could  get 
quickly  back  into  connection  with  the  rest  of  the  army, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  from  there  the  southern  troops 
could  watch  that  fortress.  He  would,  however,  quarter 
a  small  body  of  men  in  the  pass  between  Arcadia  and 
Messenia,  and  have  another  depot  in  the  present  camp, 
so  that  if  the  Turks  attempted  to  land  troops  at  Kala- 
mata they  would  find  the  passes  from  Messenia  both 
blocked. 

Nicholas  fell  in  with  the  scheme,  and  two  days  after- 
wards set  out  with  perhaps  the  least  efficient  army  that 
has  ever  taken  the  field.  But  he  had  deliberately  chosen 
his  troops  from  the  most  ill-prepared  and  untrimmed  of 
the  recruits,  for  somehow  or  other  all  this  raw  material 
had  to  be  put  into  shape  before  it  was  possible  that  it 
should  render  a  creditable  or  useful  account  of  itself  in 

818 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

any  serions  operations.  But  they  were  all  hardy,  out-of- 
door  folk,  accustomed  to  sleep  on  the  hills  and  eat  the 
roughest  food  with  health  and  cheerfulness,  and  it  was 
just  these  who  would  most  speedily  prove  a  drag  and  a 
demoralization  if  left  idle  in  camp. 

So  on  the  third  morning  they  set  out,  at  an  open  and 
scattered  double,  where  the  mountain  -  side  was  steep, 
among  the  budding  bushes  and  tilted  rocks,  taking  the 
short-cut  down  to  the  plain,  where  it  might  be  possible 
to  give  them  some  semblance  of  formation.  The  bag- 
gage and  commissariat  mules  had  preceded  them  'by  a 
few  hours,  and  were  to  wait  for  them  when  they  got 
down  to  marching  ground. 

Two  days'  march,  or  rather  tramp,  brought  them  to 
Megalopolis,  a  sparkle  in  the  centre  of  the  green  Arca- 
dian plain.  They  found  the  town  in  the  hands  of  the 
insurgent  Greeks,  a  body  of  whom,  consisting  of  about 
two  hundred  men,  enrolled  themselves  under  Nicholas. 
Here,  too,  they  heard  the  same  tale  of  slaughter  and  pil- 
lage of  the  Turk  ;  but  already  the  selfish  evil  which  was 
to  do  such  harm  to  the  Greek  cause  generally — namely, 
the  personal  greed  for  plunder — had  crept  in,  and  the 
insurgents  were  wrangling  over  the  distribution  of  the 
booty.  But  Nicholas,  with  a  fine  indignation  which 
shamed  them  into  obedience,  though  amid  murmurs  of 
suppressed  grumbling,  was  hot  with  reproach.  Was  it 
for  a  few  piastres,  he  said,  that  they  were  up  in  arms  ? 
Was  the  liberty  of  the  nation  to  be  weighed  against  a 
cask  of  wine  or  a  Turkish  slave  ?  And  taking  the  whole 
matter  into  his  own  hands,  he  reserved  half  the  booty 
captured  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  half  he  divided 
as  fairly  as  might  be  among  the  claimants. 

From  Megalopolis  Karitaena  was  only  a  four  hours' 
march,  and  he  was  anxious  to  force  the  pace  so  as  to 

319 


THE    VINTAGE 

reach  it  early  next  morning,  before  rumor  of  their  ap- 
proach should  have  gone  abroad.  The  Megalopolis  men 
were  as  untrained  as  his  own,  but  they  knew  the  coun- 
try better,  and  he  organized  out  of  them  a  corps  of  skir- 
mishers, who  should  go  in  advance  and  intercept  any 
fugitives  who  might  carry  the  news  of  the  march  into 
Karitaena.  The  only  chance  of  taking  it  was  if  he  could 
find  it  unprepared,  like  Kalamata,  creep  up  to  it  at  night, 
and  either  make  a  night  assault  or  draw  beleaguering 
lines  round  it  before  he  could  be  attacked. 

Like  Kalamata,  the  town  was  pregnable  only  from  one 
side,  but  on  this  the  road  ran  steeply  up  to  the  gate  par- 
allel with  the  citadel  wall,  thus  exposing  the  attacking 
party  to  a  broadside  fire  if  the  besieged  were  prepared. 
They  were,  in  fact,  more  than  prepared ;  they  were  wish- 
fully expectant,  and  Nicholas  fell  into  a  very  neatly 
baited  trap. 

The  skirmishing  party  had  started  a  little  before  sun- 
set, while  the  others  were  to  set  out  soon  after,  so  as  to 
reach  the  town  by  midnight  or  before,  if  possible  make 
a  night  attack,  or  if  not,  take  up  their  places,  so  that 
when  morning  dawned  the  citadel  might  find  itself  be- 
leaguered. But  the  skirmishers,  exceeding  Nicholas's  in- 
structions, had  gone  too  far  and  were  seen  from  Karitae- 
na, and  all  that  night  the  Turks  made  preparations  for 
a  long-headed  manoeuvre  on  the  morrow.  However, 
Nicholas  arrived  about  midnight,  and  finding  everything 
quiet,  and  hearing  nothing  from  the  skirmishing  party 
which  could  lead  him  to  think  that  Karitaena  was  pre- 
pared, reconnoitred  the  ground,  and  decided  not  to  at- 
tack it  by  night,  for  the  gate  was  strong  and  well"  forti- 
fied, and  without  artillery  of  some  kind  would  not  quickly 
be  forced ;  and  he  returned  to  the  men  and  gave  orders 
for  the  disposition  of  the  troops.     Those  who  were  most 

320 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

trustworthy,  consisting  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Argive 
corps,  were  posted  along  the  road  and  to  guard  the  bridge 
over  the  Alpheus,  which  led  to  Megalopolis  and  Tripoli ; 
the  less  trained  soldiers  he  posted  on  the  north  and 
south,  where  there  was  little  likelihood  of  attack.  He 
himself  remained  with  the  rawer  troops,  where  his  pres- 
ence was  more  likely  to  be  needed  than  with  the  Argives, 
on  whom  he  thought  he  could  rely. 

Morning  came  chilly  and  clear,  and  Nicholas,  on  foot, 
early  went  forward  a  little  to  see  if  there  was  yet  any 
sign  of  movement  in  the  citadel,  and,  advancing  to  where 
he  could  see  the  gate,  he  observed  that  it  was  open  and 
that  a  couple  of  Turks  driving  mules  were  coming 
leisurely  down  the  path.  This  was  an  unexpected  op- 
portunity ;  surely  they  could  storm  the  place  out  of  hand 
and  have  done  with  it ;  and  going  back  to  the  men,  he 
ordered  an  immediate  advance.  The  Argive  troops  were 
to  form  the  vanguard,  then  the  skirmishers  from  Megalop- 
olis, and  in  the  rear  the  mixed  and  untried  men,  which 
he  led  himself ;  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  all  was  ready, 
and,  the  Argive  corps  leading  the  way,  they  advanced  at 
a  double  up  the  steep  path. 

Then,  when  they  were  streaming  up  under  the  walls, 
the  Turks  showed  that  they,  too,  had  a  word  to  say  to 
these  summary  arrangements.  A  storm  of  musketry  fire 
opened  on  the  besiegers  from  the  length  of  the  wall,  and, 
like  troops  unaccustomed  to  fire,  they  did  the  very  worst 
thing  possible,  and  stopped  to  return  it,  instead  of  ad- 
vancing. This  was  hopeless,  for  their  assailants  were 
completely  sheltered  behind  the  fortifications  and  the 
Greek  fire  did  no  more  than  innocuously  chip  off  pieces 
of  mortar  and  stone  from  the  walls ;  and,  after  losing 
several  minutes  and  many  lives,  they  pressed  on  again 
gallantly  enough  towards  the  gate,  which  still  stood 
X  321 


THE    VINTAGE 

open.  This  brought  the  second  part  of  the  army  with 
Nicholas  under  fire,  but  they  were  now  moving  rapidly 
forward,  and  he  still  hoped  that  they  would  be  able  to 
get  in.  But  the  fire  had  a  demoralizing  effect  on  these 
raw  recruits,  who  had  seen  nothing  of  warfare  but  the 
pillaging  of  defenceless  farm  -  houses,  and  as  they  were 
shot  down  one  after  another  they,  too,  wavered.  Once 
the  first  three  ranks  stopped  and  would  have  turned  to 
run,  but  Nicholas,  with  a  voice  of  cheerful  encourage- 
ment— ''This  way,  boys,  this  way!"  he  shouted.  ''We 
shall  soon  be  past  this  little  shower,  and  then  comes  our 
turn." 

His  voice,  the  sight  of  him  running  on  as  a  man  runs 
to  a  wine  -  shop  under  a  pelting  of  rain,  and  the  words 
which  in  the  Greek  contained  a  somewhat  coarse  but 
popular  joke,  had  the  right  effect,  and  they  doubled  on 
again  to  close  up  the  gap  between  them  and  the  van- 
guard. Those  few  minutes  had  been  deadly  expensive, 
yet  it  was  a  marvel  to  see  how  these  men,  untried  and 
raw  as  they  were,  but  fed  with  hate,  faced  all  the  horror 
of  a  well-directed  fire,  the  grunt  and  gasp  of  death,  the 
involuntary  cry  of  overwhelming  physical  pain,  the  writh- 
ing body  under  foot,  or,  hardly  less  horrible,  the  sudden 
and  complete  striking  out  of  life  ;  and  Nicholas,  looking 
back  on  the  thinned  ranks,  the  terror-struck  faces,  but 
the  determined  advance,  thought  gleefully,  "These  are 
brave  men — and  this  is  what  they  need." 

By  this  time  the  Argives  had  very  nearly  reached  the 
gate,  but  then  the  defenders  played  their  second  card. 
Quite  suddenly  from  inside  dashed  out  a  band  of  cavalry, 
some  five  hundred  in  number,  who  rode  full  speed  down 
on  them.  The  Argives  stopped,  and,  attempting  to 
make  the  best  of  a  hopeless  job,  the  front  ranks  opened 
fire  and  a  few  Turks  fell.      But  the  charge  came  on, 

332 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

the  two  met  with  a  crash,  and  the  inevitable  happened. 
The  ranks  of  foot  broke,  and  the  men  poured  down  off 
the  road  onto  the  steep  slope  below  like  water  spilled. 
Resistance  was  not  possible,  and  the  cavalry  came  on  hew- 
ing their  way  through  the  congested  mass  of  men,  and 
in  the  mean  time  the  firing  from  the  walls  went  on  stead- 
ily. Nicholas  seeing  what  had  happened  knew  that  to  face 
this  spelled  annihilation,  and  with  a  fine  wisdom,  though 
the  words  were  bitter  in  his  mouth,  did  the  best  he 
could. 

''Save  yourselves,^'  he  cried  ;  ''run." 

And  they  turned  and  fled  down  the  road  again,  the 
Turkish  cavalry  in  their  rear,  hewing,  hacking,  and  dis- 
charging their  pistols.  The  rout  was  complete,  each 
man  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  go,  while  the  cavalry,  like  a 
swarm  of  stinging  wasps,  flew  hither  and  thither,  opening 
out  as  they  reached  the  plain,  and  chasing  the  men  as 
they  fled  single  or  in  batches  of  five  or  six. 

Luckily  for  them  wooded  hills  came  down  close  to  the 
plain  here,  and  they  struck  for  them  desperately  across 
the  narrow  strip  of  level  land,  for  there  the  cavalry  could 
not  easily  follow  them,  or  only  man  to  man.  Nicholas, 
running  down  the  slope  from  the  road,  tripped  in  a  bush 
— as  it  turned  out  luckily  for  him,  for  a  sabre  at  that 
moment  swung  over  the  place  where  his  head  should 
have  been ;  and  the  Turk,  not  waiting  to  attack  him 
singly  when  there  were  many  little  knots  of  men  among 
whom  he  could  pick  and  choose,  rode  on  leaving  him  ; 
and  Nicholas,  who  had  sprained  his  ankle  slightly  as  he 
fell,  plunged  into  the  brushwood  where  it  was  thickest, 
to  find  refuge  and  concealment.  His  rifle  he  had  thrown 
away,  for  it  impeded  his  flight,  and  he  found  himself 
some  distance  behind  the  others,  who  were  going  in  the 
right   direction  towards  Valtetzi,  where  Petrobey  had 


THE    VINTAGE 

told  them  the  camp  would  be.  But  though  the  rout 
had  been  complete  and  utter,  and  Nicholas  was  far  from 
disguising  the  fact  from  himself,  his  heart  was  filled  with 
a  secret  exultation  at  the  way  the  troops  had  behaved 
for  those  two  or  three  moments  which  try  the  courage 
of  any  man  when  he  is  being  fired  at  and  cannot  return 
the  fire.  To  be  shot  at  when  a  man  may  shoot  in  return, 
and  aim  is  matched  with  aim,  is  known  to  be  strangely 
exhilarating,  but  to  be  shot  at  and  not  to  shoot  is  cold 
stuff  for  the  courage.  They  had  been  through  the  bap- 
tism of  fire  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  and 
with  the  exception  of  that  one  moment  of  wavering 
had  stood  their  ground  till  they  were  told  to  stand  no 
longer. 

He  crept  painfully  up  the  hill-side  all  alone,  but  the 
pursuit  had  passed,  and  the  cavalry,  he  could  see,  were 
returning  across  the  plain  to  the  town,  knowing  it  was 
useless  to  follow  farther.  That  fatal  road  up  to  the  gate 
was  strewn  with  corpses,  almost  all  Greek,  with  only  a 
handful  of  Turks  and  horses.  Other  horses,  however, 
were  careering  riderless  about  the  plain ;  and  Nicholas, 
limping  from  his  sprain,  thought  how  much  more  con- 
venient it  would  be  to  go  riding  to  Valtetzi  than  to  drag 
along  his  swollen  foot.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  away  he 
could  see  two  or  three  of  the  men  trying  to  capture  one 
of  these,  but  they  only  succeeded  in  frightening  it,  and 
it  bolted  up  towards  the  hill  where  Nicholas  was,  and  a 
couple  of  minutes  later  he  saw  it  burst  through  the  first 
belt  of  trees  and  halt  on  a  piece  of  open  ground  below 
him.  There  it  stopped,  and  in  a  minute  or  so  began 
cropping  at  the  short-growing  grass.  Its  bridle,  he  could 
see,  was  over  its  head,  trailing  on  the  ground. 

Now  Nicholas  was  an  Odysseus  of  resource,  and  hav- 
ing lived  in  the  open  air  all  his  days  not  witlessly,  he 

324 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

knew  the  manners  of  many  beasts,  and  could  imitate 
certain  of  their  calls  to  each  other  so  that  even  they 
were  deceived  ;  and,  furthermore,  his  foot  was  one  burn- 
ing ache ;  and,  not  wishing  to  walk  more  than  he  could 
help,  he  preferred  that  this  horse  should  come  to  him 
rather  than  that  he  should  go  to  the  horse.  It  was 
about  a  hundred  yards  from  him,  but  a  long  way  below, 
and  it  was  grazing  quietly.  So  Nicholas,  to  make  it  a 
little  alert,  and  also  to  assist  in  bringing  it  nearer  him, 
took  up  a  pebble,  and  with  extreme  precision  lobbed  it 
over  the  horse,  so  that  it  fell  on  the  far  side  of  him. 
The  animal,  startled  by  the  noise,  stopped  grazing,  and 
started  off  at  a  trot  in  the  direction  away  from  where 
the  pebble  had  seemed  to  come  and  directly  towards 
Nicholas.  After  a  few  yards,  however,  it  stopped  again, 
and  Nicholas  whinnied  gently.  At  that  it  looked  up 
again  and  sniffed  the  air,  but  before  it  had  continued  its 
grazing  he  whinnied  once  more,  and  then  lay  flat  down 
on  his  back.  In  a  moment  the  horse  answered  and  Nicho- 
las called  to  it  a  third  time,  and  heard  from  below  that  it 
had  left  the  open  and  was  pushing  towards  him  through 
the  trees.  Once  again  he  called,  and  the  answer  came 
nearer,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  horse  appeared  am- 
bling quickly  up  the  steep  incline.  For  a  moment  it  did 
not  see  Nicholas,  for  he  lay  flat  on  the  ground,  half 
covered  by  the  bush ;  but  when  it  did,  seeing  he  lay 
quite  still,  it  came  close  up  to  him  and  sniffed  round 
him.  Then  quietly  reaching  out  a  hand,  he  caught  the 
bridle  as  it  trailed  on  the  ground. 

This  was  satisfactory,  for,  besides  getting  a  mount,  he 
had  acquired  a  pistol  which  was  stuck  into  its  case  on 
the  holster,  and  getting  up,  he  pushed  the  horse  forward 
through  the  trees.  Half  an  hour^s  ride  brought  him 
into  a  bridle-path,  running  loftily  along  the  mountain- 

325 


THE    VINTACtE 

side,  and  he  halted  here  to  take  his  bearings.  Straight 
in  front  of  him,  and  not  an  hour's  ride  distant,  stood  the 
huddled  roofs  of  a  village,  which  he  took  to  be  Serrica, 
but  at  present  he  could  only  see  a  few  of  the  outlying 
houses.  But  at  the  thought  that  this  was  Serrica  his 
heart  thrilled  within  him,  for  it  was  the  village  from 
which  his  wife  had  come.  A  wonderful  return  was  this 
for  him ;  already  the  work  of  avenging  her  death  had 
begun,  and  soon,  please  God  !  should  a  Turk  be  slain  for 
every  hair  of  her  head.  Ah,  the  cursed  race  who  had 
brought  dishonor  to  her,  and  to  him  a  wound  that  could 
never  be  healed  !  Helen,  too  —  little  Helen  —  who  ran 
towards  him,  crying  "  Father,  father  I"  Yes,  by  Grod, 
her  father  heard  her  voice  still,  and  her  cry  should  not 
be  lifted  up  in  vain ! 

In  half  an  hour  more  he  stopped  to  reconnoitre,  turn- 
ing off  the  path  among  the  heather.  His  heart  pulled 
him  thither,  yet  for  that  very  reason  he  would  be  cau- 
tious, and  not  risk  the  ultimate  completeness  of  his  ven- 
geance. From  the  slope  above  he  watched  for  ten  min- 
utes more,  and,  seeing  no  movement  or  sign  of  life  in 
the  village,  concluded  that  here,  too,  the  Greeks  had 
risen,  and,  after  driving  out  the  Turks,  had  gone  either 
to  Petrobey  or  to  Kalavryta.  And  as  he  looked  he  saw 
that  a  dozen  houses  at  one  spot  were  roofless,  showing 
by  their  charred  beams  pointing  up  to  the  sky  that  they 
had  been  burned.  At  the  end  stood  the  church  dedi- 
cated to  the  Mother  of  God ;  and,  oh,  the  bitterness  of 
that !  It  was  there  he  had  been  married ;  from  that 
door  he  had  walked  away  with  the  dearest  and  fairest 
of  women,  the  happiest  man  in  Greece. 

Nicholas  hesitated  no  longer ;  it  was  still  an  hour  be- 
fore noon,  and  he  did  not  care  to  travel  during  the  day. 
He  would  go  down  once  more  to  the  place,  he  would  see 

336 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPE8 

it  all  again,  and  let  its  memories  scourge  him  into  an 
even  keener  anguish,  a  keener  lust  for  vengeance,  and, 
putting  his  horse  to  an  amble  down  the  crumbling  hill- 
side, in  ten  minutes  more  he  stood  in  the  straggling  vil- 
lage street.  There  was  the  house — her  house — just  in 
front  of  him,  and  he  went  there  first.  The  door  was 
standing  open,  and  inside  he  found,  as  Mitsos  had  found 
at  Mistra,  the  signs  of  a  sudden  departure.  His  brother- 
in-law  then,  to  whom  the  house  belonged,  must  have 
gone  to  Petrobey,  or  Kalavryta,  probably  the  latter,  and 
the  thought  was  wine  to  him.  Husband  and  brother, 
a  double  vengeance,  and  his  should  be  the  work  of  three 


men 


He  had  not  eaten  that  day,  but  he  soon  found  bread, 
meat,  and  wine,  and,  after  stabling  his  horse  and  eating, 
he  went  out  again  to  the  church.  Every  step  seemed  a 
tearing  open  of  the  wound,  yet  with  every  step  his  heart 
was  fed  with  fierce  joy.  Ah,  no,  Helen  should  not  call 
in  vain  ! 

The  church  door  was  open  and  he  entered.  It  had 
not  altered  at  all  in  those  twenty  years  since  he  had  seen 
it  last.  Over  the  altar  hung  a  rude  early  painting,  show- 
ing the  Mother  of  God,  and  nestling  in  her  arms  the 
wondrous  Child.  In  front  the  remote  kings  did  obei- 
sance, behind  stood  the  ox  and  the  ass  in  the  stall.  And 
casting  himself  down  there,  in  an  agony  bitter  sweet, 
he  prayed  with  fervor  and  faith  to  the  Mother  of  the 
Divine  Child.  All  the  hopes  and  the  desires  of  years 
were  concentrated  into  that  moment,  and  he  offered 
them  up  humbly,  yet  at  his  best,  to  the  Lord  and  the 
Handmaid  of  the  Lord.  Then,  in  the  excitement  of  his 
ecstasy,  as  he  gazed  on  that  rude  picture  with  stream- 
ing eyes,  it  seemed  to  him  that  a  sign  of  acceptance, 
visible  and  immediate,  was  given  him.     A  light  as  stead- 

327 


THE    VINTAGE 

fast,  but  milder  than  the  sun,  grew  and  glowed  round 
the  two  figures,  the  rough  craft  of  the  artist  was  glori- 
fied, and  on  the  face,  so  human  yet  divine,  there  came 
the  soft  and  sudden  graciousness  of  life ;  it  was  touched 
with  a  pitiful  sympathy  for  him,  and  the  eyes  smiled 
acceptance  of  his  offering.  Bowed  down  by  so  wonder- 
ful a  pity,  he  hid  his  face  in  his  hands,  faith  struck  fear 
from  his  heart,  and  in  that  moment  he  felt  that  he  had 
not  prayed  alone,  that  his  wife  had  knelt  by  him,  and 
that  it  was  her  prayers  mingled  with  his  that  had 
brought  for  him  that  signal  favor  of  the  Thrice  Holy 
Maid  on  his  work. 

That  night,  as.  soon  as  the  sun  went  down  and  the  ways 
grew  dark,  he  went  on  his  journey  with  a  soul  refreshed 
and  strengthened ;  he  felt  that  the  vow  he  had  made 
over  the  dead  body  of  his  wife  had  been  attested  and 
approved  by  Christ  and  the  Mother  of  Christ,  and  from 
that  hour  to  the  end  of  his  life  never  for  a  day  did  that 
gracious  vision,  like  bread  from  heaven,  fail  to  sustain 
and  strengthen  him.  And  all  through  the  clear  spring 
night  the  hosts  of  heaven  that  rose  and  wheeled  above 
him  were  ministering  spirits,  and  the  wind  that  passed 
cool  and  bracing  over  the  hill -sides  the  incense  which 
carried  his  prayer  upward.  He,  to  whom  vengeance  be- 
longed, had  chosen  him  as  His  humble  but  willing  agent. 
His  sword  was  the  sword  of  the  Lord. 

He  crossed  the  first  range  of  hills  by  midnight,  and 
then  struck  the  road  which  led  by  the  khan  where  Mitsos 
and  Yanni  had  stopped  on  their  way  from  Tripoli.  It 
was  now  within  two  hours  of  daybreak,  but  seeing  a  light 
in  the  windows,  he  drew  rein  to  inquire  whether  Anastasis 
had  seen  aught  of  the  other  fugitives.  Looking  in  cau- 
tiously through  the  windows,  he  saw  that  the  floor  was 
covered  with  Greeks,  who  lay  sleeping,  while  Anasta- 

328 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GKAPES 

sis,  good  fellow,  was  serving  others  with  hot  coffee  and 
bread. 

Nicholas  tied  up  his  horse  and  went  in.  As  he  entered 
several  of  the  men  in  a  group  round  the  fire  turned  and 
looked  to  see  who  it  was,  instinctively  clutching  at  their 
knives.  Then  one  got  hastily  up,  and  his  head  was  among 
the  roof-beams. 

"Uncle  Nicholas  V  he  cried,  "  is  it  you  ?" 

"  Who  else  should  it  be,  little  Mitsos  ?  And  what  do 
you  here  ?" 

"  Petrobey  sent  me  down  this  morning  to  see  if  any- 
thing could  be  seen  or  heard  of  you,  and  when  you  did 
not  come,  and  we  heard  from  the  others  what  had  hap- 
pened, we  were  afraid,  or  almost  afraid — '' 

"  I  am  not  so  easily  got  rid  of,"  said  Nicholas.  "  Anas- 
tasis,  I  shall  not  forget  that  you  were  good  to  the  fugi- 
tives.    Yes,  I  will  have  some  coffee." 

Most  of  the  men  sleeping  on  the  floor  had  awoke  at  the 
noise  and  were  sitting  up.  Nicholas  took  a  chair  and 
began  sipping  his  coffee. 

"  Little  Mitsos,"  he  said,  aloud,  "I  do  not  know  what 
the  others  may  have  told  you  has  happened,  but  I  will 
tell  you  what  I  saw.  I  saw  a  body  of  men,  who  knew 
nothing  of  war,  stand  steady  under  a  heavy  fire  because 
they  were  told  to  stand.  I  saw  them  go  on  under  it  when 
there  was  room  to  move,  but  not  one  did  I  see  do  aught 
else  until  I  had  to  set  the  example,  and  told  them  to 
run." 

Mitsos  grew  rather  red  in  the  face. 

"The  cavalry  charged  on  them,  and  from  behind  the 
fortifications  came  a  hail  of  bullets.  And  I  never  de- 
sire," he  said,  striking  the  table  a  great  thump,  "  nor 
would  it  be  possible,  to  command  braver  men." 

Mitsos  held  out  his  hand  to  the  man  nearest  him. 
329 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  Christos,  shake  hands  or  knock  me  down/^  he  said. 
'^I  eat  my  words  as  one  eats  figs  in  autumn — one  gulp." 

"  What  have  you  been  saying,  little  Mitsos  V  asked 
Nicholas. 

^^  I  said  they  were  cowards  to  run  away.  Oh,  but  I  am 
very  sorry  !     They  are  bad  words  I  am  eating." 

"Well,  let  there  be  no  mistake,  Mitsos,"  said  Nicholas  ; 
"  down  they  go  !" 

Christos,  a  huge,  broad  -  shouldered  country  Greek, 
looked  up  at  Mitsos,  grinning. 

"  There  is  no  malice,"  he  said.     "  I  called  you  a  liar." 

*'  So  you  did,  and  there  were  nearly  hard  blows.  Oh, 
we  should  have  made  a  fine  fight  of  it,  for  we  are  neither 
little  people.  But  there  will  be  no  fighting  now,  unless 
you  are  wishful,  for  I  will  deny  no  one  anything,  now 
Uncle  Nicholas  has  come.  Why,  are  you  lame,  uncle  ? 
How  did  you  get  here  ?" 

''I  rode  a  fine  Turkish  horse,"  remarked  Nicholas; 
"may  I  never  ride  a  finer  !" 

Mitsos'  frank  and  unreserved  apologies  had  quite  re- 
stored the  amiability  of  those  present,  who,  when  Nich- 
olas had  entered,  were  growling  and  indignant,  for 
Mitsos  had  made  himself  quite  peculiarly  offensive. 
But,  though  he  could  not  clearly  see  how  bravery  was 
compatible  with  running  away,  Nicholas  must  be  taken 
on  trust. 

Nicholas  had  fallen  in  with  the  last  batch  of  fugitives. 
Since  noon  they  had  been  streaming  up  the  hills.  Only 
a  few  apparently  were  wounded,  and  these  had  been  sent 
on  on  mules  to  the  camp.  Those  who  had  been  wounded 
severely,  it  was  feared,  must  all  have  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Turks,  for  there  had  been  no  possibility  of  escape, 
except  by  flight.  Altogether  Nicholas  reckoned  they  had 
lost  three  hundred  men,  and  but  for  his  own  promptness 

330 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

in  seeing  the  utter  hopelessness  of  trying  to  stop  the  cav- 
alry charge,  they  would  have  lost  five  times  that  number. 
Having  satisfied  himself  on  these  points,  he  turned  to 
Mitsos  again. 

"  How  about  the  ship  ?"  he  said  ;  "  and  when  did  you 
get  back  r 

"  Two  days  after  you  left  Taygetus,"  said  Mitsos  ;  and 
then,  with  a  great  grin,  "the  ship  is  not." 

"Tell  me  about  it,  and  I,  too,  afterwards  have  some- 
thing to  tell." 

Mitsos'  story,  which  was,  of  course,  news  to  all  present, 
was  received  with  shouts  of  approval,  though  he  left  out 
that  part  of  it  which  raised  the  exploit  to  a  heroism,  and 
Nicholas  smiled  at  him  when  he  had  finished. 

"It  was  well  done,"  he  said,  "and  I  think,  little 
Mitsos,  that  I,  too,  have  friends  who  will,  perhaps,  aid 
me,  as  they  have  aided  you  ";  and  he  told  them  the  story 
of  his  strange  vision. 

"And  by  this  I  know,"  he  concluded,  "that  our  work 
is  a  work  which  God  has  blessed,  and,  come  what  may, 
not  for  an  hour  will  I  shrink  from  it  or  flinch  till  it  is 
finished,  or  till  my  time  comes.  Look,  the  east  is  al- 
ready lightening  !  Get  up,  my  lads,  for  we  must  push 
on  to  the  camp." 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  they  were  off,  the  men  march- 
ing in  good  order  as  long  as  they  kept  the  road,  but  fall- 
ing out  when  they  had  to  climb  the  rough  hill-side.  An 
hour's  walking  brought  them  to  the  top  of  the  hills,  and 
on  a  detached  spur  standing  alone  and  commanding  the 
valley  they  could  see  the  lines  of  the  fortifications  which 
Petrobey  was  erecting.  He  himself,  seeing  them  com- 
ing while  still  far  off,  rode  out  to  meet  them,  and  Nich- 
olas spurred  his  horse  forward. 

"  Praise  the  Virgin  that  you  have  come,  Nicholas," 
331 


THE    VINTAGE 

he  said,  "for  by  this  I  know  that  there  was  no  dis- 
grace." 

"You  are  right.  Had  there  been  disgrace  I  should 
not  be  here.  But  there  was  nothing  but  bravery  among 
the  men,  and  the  disgrace,  if  so  you  think  it  is,  is  on  my 
head."    And  he  told  him  what  had  happened. 

"They  are  brave  men,"  said  Petrobey,  "and  yet  I 
think  you  are  the  braver  for  giving  that  order." 

"  I  should  have  been  a  foolish  loon  if  I  had  not,"  said 
Nicholas,  laughing. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE   hornets'    KEST  AT   VALTETZI 

Siifl"CE  his  arrival  at  Valtetzi  three  days  before,  Petrobey 
had  hardly  rested  night  or  day.  The  ground  he  had  oc- 
cupied and  was  fortifying  with  feverish  haste  was  the  top 
of  a  large  spur  of  hill,  going  steeply  down  into  the  valley^ 
and  commanding  a  good  view  of  it.  Its  advantages  were 
obvious,  for  the  cavalry,  which  at  present  they  were  par- 
ticularly incompetent  to  meet,  could  not  possibly  attack 
them  on  such  a  perch,  and  also  it  would  be  difficult  for 
the  Turks  to  get  up  any  of  their  big  guns,  of  which  there 
were  several  in  Tripoli,  to  make  an  assault.  They  knew 
that  in  that  town  there  were  at  least  ten  six-pounders, 
and  certainly  fifteen  more  nine-pounders,  though  since 
they  had  occupied  the  place,  and  found  that  the  Turk 
had  made  no  efforts  whatever  to  bring  artillery  to  bear  on 
them,  Petrobey  suspected,  and  as  it  turned  out  rightly, 
that  they  were  not  all  serviceable.  Furthermore,  occupy- 
ing Valtetzi,  they  cut  off  Tripoli  from  Kalamata,  whither 
before  long,  in  all  probability,  the  Turks  would  send  a 
relief  expedition  by  sea.  However,  by  this  occupation 
of  Valtetzi  there  would  be  two  passes  to  capture  before 
they  could  send  help  to  Tripoli,  and,  as  he  said,  "  they 
will  be  strong  men  if  they  take  this." 

Tripoli  itself  lay  about  eight  miles  to  the  northeast, 
and  at  present  the  whole  body  of  Greeks  was  occupied 
in  fortifying  the  post  they  had  taken.    A  village,  largely 


THE    VINTAGE 

Turkish,  had  stood  on  the  spot,  and  the  demolition  of 
the  houses  went  on  from  daybreak  to  nightfall  to  make 
material  for  building  up  a  defensive  wall.  The  soldiers, 
meantime,  as  their  barracks  were  converted  into  fortifica- 
tions, substituted  for  them  huts  made  of  poles  woven  in 
with  osiers  and  brushwood,  similar  to  those  they  used  on 
Taygetus.  The  walls,  it  must  be  confessed,  presented  a 
curiously  unworkmanlike  aspect — here  and  there  a  course 
of  regular  square  stones  would  be  interrupted  by  a  couple 
of  Byzantine  columns  from  the  mosque,  or  the  capital  of 
a  Venetian  pillar  in  which  a  strange  human -faced  lion 
looked  out  from  a  nest  of  conventional  acanthus  leaves. 
Parther  on  in  the  same  row  would  come  a  packet  of  roof 
tiles  plastered  together  with  mud,  and  a  plane-tree  stand- 
ing in  the  line  of  the  wall  was  pressed  into  the  service, 
and  supplied  the  place  of  a  big  stone  for  eight  upright 
courses.  Above  that  it  had  been  sawn  off,  and  the  next 
section  of  the  trunk  being  straight  made  a  wooden  cop- 
ing for  five  yards  of  wall.  Here  a  chimney-pot  filled 
with  earth  and  stones  took  its  place  among  solider  ma- 
terials ;  here  a  hearthstone  placed  on  end,  with  two  inches 
of  iron  support  for  the  stewing-pot,  staring  foolishly  out 
into  vacancy.  Then  came  a  section  where  the  builders 
had  drawn  from  a  richer  quarry,  and  a  fine  slab  of  por- 
phyry and  two  rosso  antico  pillars  formed  an  exclusive 
coterie  in  the  midst  of  rough  blocks  of  limestone.  But 
though  heterogeneous  and  uncouth,  the  walls  were  stout 
and  high,  and,  as  Petrobey  said,  their  business  was  not 
to  build  a  pretty  harem  to  please  the  women. 

Inside,  a  hardy  sufficiency  was  the  note.  The  sol- 
diers' huts,  though  small,  would  stand  a  good  deal  of 
rough  weather ;  they  were  built  squarely  in  rows,  camp- 
wise,  and  the  floors  were  shingled  with  gravel  from  a 
quarry  close  by.     Two  houses  only  had  been  kept,  in  one 

334 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

of  which  were  stored  the  arms,  in  the  other  the  ammnni- 
tion,  Petrobey  and  Nicholas,  as  before,  occupying  huts 
exactly  like  those  tenanted  by  the  common  soldiers.  The 
mules  and  herds  of  sheep  and  goats  were  driven  out 
every  morning  under  an  armed  escort  to  pasture  on  the 
hills  near,  and  penned  to  the  south  of  the  camp  for  the 
night.  Food  was  plentiful,  and  the  men  seemed  well 
content,  for  the  booty  already  taken  was  very  consider- 
able. 

In  ten  days  more,  before  the  end  of  April,  the  walls 
were  complete,  and  Petrobey,  following  out  the  plan  he 
had  formed  from  the  first,  sent  out  daily  and  nightly 
skirmishing  expeditions,  who  made  unlooked-for  raids 
on  the  villages  scattered  on  the  plain  about  Tripoli, 
the  inhabitants  of  which,  feeling  secure  in  their  neigh- 
borhood to  the  fortress,  had  not  yet  sought  refuge  within 
its  walls.  Men,  women,  and  children  alike  were  slain, 
the  valuables  seized,  the  flocks  and  herds  driven  up  to 
the  camp,  and  the  villages  burned.  In  such  operations, 
inglorious  and  bloody  it  is  to  be  feared,  but  a  necessary 
part  of  the  programme  of  extermination,  which  the 
Greeks  believed,  not  without  cause,  to  be  their  only 
chance  of  freedom,  their  losses  were  almost  to  be  num- 
bered on  the  fingers ;  once  or  twice  some  house  defended 
by  a  few  men  inside  resisted  the  attack  and  fired  upon 
them,  in  which  case  the  assailants  did  not  scruple  to  set 
light  to  the  place ;  and  in  ten  days  more  only  heaps  of 
smoking  ruins  remained  of  the  little  white  villages,  whicli 
had  been  dotted  among  the  vineyards  like  flocks  of  feed- 
ing sheep. 

Petrobey  also  established  another  small  camp  on  the 
hills  to  the  east  of  Tripoli,  to  guard  the  road  between  it 
and  the  plain  of  Argos  and  Nauplia.  They  had  already 
intercepted  and  had  a  small  skirmish  with  troops  coming 

335 


THE    VINTAGE 

to  that  place  from  Nanplia.  The  loss  on  the  Greek  side 
was  about  one  hundred;  on  that  of  the  Turks  nearly 
double,  for  when  it  came  to  hand-to-hand  fighting  the 
slow  and  short-legged  Turk  was  no  match  for  the  fresh 
vigor  of  the  mountain-folk.  On  this  occasion  they  had 
lain  in  ambush  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and  opened 
fire  simultaneously  at  the  regiment  as  it  passed.  The 
Turks  had  with  them  a  contingent  of  cavalry,  but  on 
the  rocky  and  wooded  ground  they  were  perfectly  use- 
less; and  their  infantry,  leaving  the  road,  had  driven 
the  Greeks  from  their  ground,  though  in  the  first  attack 
they  had  lost  severely.  But  this  readiness  to  retreat 
when  necessary,  and  not  waste  either  powder  or  lives 
profitlessly,  was  in  accordance  with  the  policy  which 
Nicholas  had  indicated,  and  had  been  the  first  to  put  in 
practice  at  Karitaena;  and  it  was  exactly  this  harassing, 
guerilla  warfare,  in  which  cavalry  could  not  be  brought 
into  play,  in  which  attack  was  unexpected  and  flight  was 
immediate  upon  any  sign  of  a  regular  engagement,  which 
made  the  Turks  feel  they  were  fighting  with  shadows. 
Though  their  number  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  ex- 
ceeded those  of  the  Greeks,  yet  each  engagement  of  the 
kind  lessened  them  in  a  far  greater  proportion  than 
their  enemies,  who  seemed,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be 
mustering  fresh  troops  every  day.  Had  Petrobey  at  this 
period  consented  to  give  battle  in  the  plains  it  is  prob- 
able that  his  army  would  have  been  wiped  out  if  they 
had  fought  to  a  close,  and  it  says  much  for  his  wisdom 
that  he  persisted  in  a  policy  which  was  tedious  and  dis- 
tasteful to  him  personally.  But  the  Greeks  were  acquir- 
ing every  day  fresh  experience  and  knowledge,  while  the 
strength  of  the  Turks,  which  lay  in  their  admirable  cav- 
alry and  their  guns,  was  lying  useless. 

In  the  north,  however,  affairs  had  not  sped  so  prosper- 


THE  treadi:ng  of  the  grapes  ^ 

ously.  Germanos,  who  was  practically  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army  at  Kalavryta — less  wise  than  his  col- 
league at  Valtetzi — had  risked  an  attack  on  the  citadel 
at  Patras  and  suffered  a  severe  defeat.  As  at  Karitaena, 
a  cavalry  charge  ought  to  have  made  him  follow  Nich- 
olases example,  but  he  stuck  with  misplaced  bravery  to  his 
attempt,  until  a  second  body  of  cavalry  took  him  in  the 
rear  and  cut  off  his  retreat.  With  desperate  courage  his 
men  cut  their  way  through  the  latter,  but  a  remnant  only 
came  through ;  his  loss  was  enormous  compared  to  that 
sustained  by  the  Turks,  and  nothing  was  gained  by  it, 
for  the  citadel  of  Patras  still  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy. 

News  of  this  disaster  was  brought  to  Valtetzi  about 
the  5th  of  May,  with  the  information  that  Turkish  sol- 
diers, consisting  of  eight  hundred  cavalry  and  fifteen  hun- 
dred infantry,  had  set  out  eastward  along  the  Gulf  of 
Corinth,  under  the  command  of  an  able  Turkish  officer, 
Achmet  Bey.  Five  days  afterwards  it  was  reported  that 
they  had  reached  Argos,  and  next  day,  while  a  skirmish- 
ing party  engaged  the  Greeks  on  the  hills  opposite,  the 
rest  of  the  force  passed  quietly  down  the  road  and 
reached  Tripoli  the  same  evening.  It  was  a  splendid 
achievement  boldly  and  successfully  carried  out,  and 
Petrobey  from  that  hour  held  himself  in  readiness  to 
repel  any  attack  that  might  be  made. 

Achmet  Bey  found  Tripoli  in  a  poorer  state  than  the 
Greeks  knew,  for  their  incessant  ravages  on  the  plain, 
their  destruction  of  crops  and  capture  of  flocks  and 
herds,  as  well  as  the  great  influx  of  population,  had  even 
now  begun  to  make  themselves  felt  within  the  walls,  for 
the  town  and  the  plain  in  which  it  stood  were  cut  off 
from  all  assistance,  and  the  plain  lay  barren  and  desolate. 
He  saw  at  once  that  it  was  necessary  to  establish  connec- 
Y  337 


THE    VINTAGE 

tion  with  Messenia,  for  the  plain  of  Argos  was  occupied 
by  bands  of  insurgent  Greeks,  and  he  had  himself  scarce- 
ly won  his  way  through.  Though  its  port,  Nauplia,  was 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  it  also  was  isolated  from 
,  connection  with  the  main-land  by  the  insurgents  of  the 
plain;  and  the  newly  created  Greek  fleet  from  the  isl- 
ands of  Hydra  and  Spetzas  kept  it  in  a  state  of  semi- 
blockade  by  sea,  and  all  provisions  were  got  in  with  diffi- 
culty and  consumed  in  the  town.  But  Achmet  Bey,  not 
knowing  that  Petrobey  had  established  posts  on  the 
passes  over  Taygetus  from  Kalamata  and  into  Arcadia, 
thought  that  a  successful  attack  on  Valtetzi  would  ena- 
ble them  to  open  regular  communication  with  Messenia, 
and  so  with  the  sea. 

It  was  early  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May  that 
the  attack  was  made.  At  dawn  the  sentries  on  the  walls 
of  Valtetzi  saw  a  troop  of  cavalry  issue  from  the  southern 
gate  of  Tripoli,  followed  by  long  columns  of  infantry,  and 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  camp  was  humming  like 
swarming  bees.  Petrobey  had  established  a  system  of 
signals  with  the  post  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley,  but 
he  made  no  sign  to  them,  for  it  seemed  possible  that 
Achmet,  hoping  to  draw  them  into  the  plain,  would  try 
to  seize  the  pass  they  held,  which  communicated  with 
Argos. 

It  was  a  clear  blue  morning  after  a  cold  night,  and  the 
troops,  defiling  from  the  gate,  looked  at  that  distance  like 
lines  of  bright-mailed  insects.  First,  came  the  infantry 
marching  in  eight  separate  columns,  each  containing 
some  five  hundred  men;  next,  a  long  line  of  baggage- 
mules,  followed  by  horses  pulling  two  guns;  and  last,  the 
cavalry  on  black  Syrian  horses  very  gayly  caparisoned. 
Nicholas  had  an  excellent  telescope,  which  he  had  been 
given  by  the  captain  of  an  English  ship  in  return  for 

338 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

some  service,  and  he  and  Petrobey  watched  them  until 
the  gates  closed  again  behind. 

Petrobey  shut  up  the  glass  with  a  happy  little  sigh. 

"  That  will  do  very  nicely,"  he  said  to  Nicholas. 
"  They  will  want  to  entice  us  and  our  post  on  the  other 
side  into  the  plain ;  but  I  think  we  will  both  of  us  just 
stay  at  home.  I  don't  want  to  meet  those  gay  cavalry 
just  now,  nor  yet  those  two  bright  guns.  We  will  have 
breakfast,  dear  cousin." 

The  bugle  sounded  for  rations,  and  Petrobey  told  the 
men  to  eat  well,  "for,"  said  he,  "there  will  be  no  dinner 
to-day,  I  am  thinking,  but " — and  his  eye  sparkled  as  he 
pointed  to  the  enemy — "there  will,  perhaps,  be  a  little 
supper." 

The  men  grinned,  and  soon  the  light-blue  smoke  went 
up  from  a  hundred  fires  where  they  were  making  their 
coffee.  Two  or  three  sentries  only  remained  on  the 
walls,  who  were  told  to  report  to  Petrobey  when  the  col- 
umn left  the  road  on  which  it  was  marching  and  turned 
off  either  westward  towards  Valtetzi  or  eastward  tow- 
ards the  post  on  the  opposite  hills.  He  and  Nicholas 
had  hardly  sat  down  to  breakfast,  however,  when  an  or- 
derly ran  in  saying  that  the  post  on  the  other  side  of  the 
valley  was  signalling.  Petrobey  finished  an  egg  beaten 
up  with  sugar  and  milk  before  replying. 

"I  am  not  of  the  signalling  corps,  my  friend," he  said; 
"  let  the  message  be  read  and  brought  to  me.  Some 
more  coffee,  Nicholas ;  it  strikes  me  as  particularly  good 
this  morning." 

The  message  from  the  signalling  body  came  back  in  a 
minute  or  two.     They  were  merely  asking  for  orders. 

"  Stop  where  you  are,"  dictated  Petrobey,  "  and  watch 
to  see  if  Turkish  reinforcements  are  coming  from  Argos. 
If  so,  signal  here  at  once.      If  the  troops  which  have 

339 


THE    VINTAGE 

come  out  of  Tripoli  turn  and  attack  you,  run  away, 
drawing  them  after  you  if  possible.  There  will  be  fight- 
ing for  us.     Pray  for  your  comrades.^' 

''And  now,  dear  cousin,^^  he  said  to  Nicholas,  when 
they  had  finished  breakfast,  "  we  will  talk,  if  you  please." 

An  hour  afterwards  an  orderly  came  in  to  say  that  the 
troops  had  left  the  road  and  were  making  straight  tow- 
ards Valtetzi,  and  Petrobey  got  up. 

''Every  one  to  his  post  on  the  walls,"  he  said,  "but 
let  no  one  fire  till  the  word  is  given.  Yanni,  take  the 
order  to  all  the  captains  of  the  companies." 

The  wall  was  pierced  in  all  its  length  with  narrow  slits 
for  firing,  and  in  half  an  hour  each  of  these  was  occupied 
by  four  men,  two  of  whom  could  fire  at  the  same  time, 
while  the  two  behind  were  employed  in  reloading  their 
muskets.  Outside,  the  walls  were  some  nine  feet  high, 
built  on  ground  which  sloped  rapidly  away  in  some 
places  at  roof  angle  for  two  hundred  feet,  while  inside  it 
rose  to  within  five  feet  of  the  top  of  the  wall.  There  a 
man  standing  up  could  see  over,  and  Petrobey  took  up 
his  place  over  the  gate,  where  he  could  watch  the  troops. 

He  observed  that  the  infantry  had  separated  into  two 
parties,  one  of  which  had  left  the  road  and  was  marching 
away  from  them  towards  the  post  on  the  other  side  of  the 
valley,  while  the  other  and  larger  half  was  advancing  tow- 
ards them.  The  cavalry  followed  the  latter,  but  halted 
when  the  hills  began  to  rise  more  steeply  out  of  the 
plain.  The  smaller  portion  of  the  infantry  was  evidently 
going  to  try  to  draw  the  Greeks  from  the  far  post  down 
into  the  plain,  while  the  cavalry  who  stayed  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  pass  below  Valtetzi  would  hinder  help  being 
sent  from  there.  This  Petrobey  noticed  with  a  pleasant 
smile.  The  others  knew  exactly  what  to  do,  and  mean- 
time the  force  which  would  assault  Valtetzi  would  be 

340 


THE  TREADINa  OF  THE  GRAPES 

weakened  by  more  than  a  quarter  of  its  men.  Most  of 
it,  however,  consisted  of  Albanian  mercenaries  who  were 
largely  in  Turkish  pay,  and  who,  as  he  well  knew,  earned 
their  pay,  for  they  were  men  of  the  hills  and  the  open 
air,  who  could  use  a  sword  and  were  masters  of  their 
limbs. 

Each  hundred  men  in  the  Greek  camp — that  is  to  say, 
twenty-five  of  these  groups  of  four — were  under  the  or- 
ders of  a  captain,  who  in  turn  was  under  the  direction  of 
Petrobey,  and  in  all  about  two  thousand  men  lined  the 
walls.  Of  the  remainder,  fifty  were  employed  in  distrib- 
uting ammunition,  and  were  in  readiness  to  bring  fresh 
supplies  to  the  defenders ;  a  hundred  more  were  ready  to 
take  the  place  of  any  who  might  be  killed  at  their  posts  ; 
and  the  rest,  some  eight  hundred  men,  were  standing 
under  arms  on  the  small  parade-ground  in  the  centre  of 
the  camp,  under  command  of  Nicholas.  They  would 
not,  however,  according  to  the  scheme  he  and  Petrobey 
had  devised,  be  required  just  yet,  and  he  told  them  to 
pile  arms  and  fall  out,  but  not  to  leave  the  ground  so 
that  they  could  not  be  recalled  in  a  moment  if  wanted. 
Mitsos  was  in  attendance  on  Nicholas,  and  Yanni  stood 
by  Petrobey  ready  to  take  his  orders  to  any  part  of  the 
camp. 

An  hour  elapsed  before  the  Albanian  infantry  appeared 
above  the  ridge  some  five  hundred  yards  off,  and  still  in 
the  Greek  camp  there  was  perfect  silence.  Then,  open- 
ing out,  they  advanced  at  a  double,  intending  evidently 
to  try  to  storm  the  place.  But  they  had  clearly  not 
known  how  completely  it  had  been  fortified,  and  while 
they  were  still  about  four  hundred  yards  off  they  halted 
at  a  word  of  command  and  sheltered  among  the  big 
bowlders  that  strewed  the  hill-side.  Still,  in  the  Greek 
camp  there  was  no  sound  or  movement,  only  Yanni  ran 

341 


THE    VINTAGE 

across  to  Nicholas  with  the  order  ^^Be  ready/' and  he 
called  his  men  up  and  they  stood  in  line  with  their  arms. 
Then  a  word  was  shouted  by  the  commander  of  the  ad- 
vancing troop,  and  Petrobey  saw  the  Albanians  all  mass- 
ing behind  a  small  spur  of  hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
away,  where  they  were  hidden  from  sight. 

There  was  a  long  pause ;  each  individual  man  in  the 
camp  knew  that  the  enemy  was  close,  that  in  a  few 
minutes  the  shot  would  be  singing,  but  in  the  mean  time 
they  could  not  see  any  one.  Two  miles  away  on  the 
plain  stood  the  glittering  mailed  insects,  the  Turkish 
cavalry;  and  six  miles  off,  a  mere  black  speck,  was  the 
troop  which  had  gone  across  to  the  east.  The  suspense 
was  almost  unbearable;  every  nerve  was  stretched  to  its 
highest  tension,  and  every  man  exhibited  his  nervous 
discomfort  in  his  own  peculiar  way.  Christos,  who  was 
stationed  at  one  of  the  loop-holes  straight  towards  the 
enemy,  merely  turned  cold  and  damp  and  wiped  the 
sweat  off  his  forehead  with  a  flabby  hand,  expectorating 
rapidly ;  Yanni,  on  the  other  hand,  at  his  post  by  Petro- 
bey, had  a  mouth  as  dry  as  sirocco,  got  very  red  in  the 
face,  and  swore  gently  and  atrociously  to  himself ;  a 
young  recruit  from  Megalopolis  suddenly  threw  back  his 
head  and  laughed,  and  the  sergeant  of  his  company 
vented  his  own  tension  by  cuffing  him  over  the  ears,  and 
yet  the  boy  laughed  on ;  Mitsos,  standing  by  Nicholas, 
whistled  the  '^Song  of  the  Vine-diggers''  between  his 
teeth ;  Father  Andrea,  who  had  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
serve  in  some  way,  and  was  a  loader  for  the  two  men 
next  Petrobey,  chanted  over  and  over  again  gently  below 
his  breath  the  first  verse  of  the  "  Te  Deum/'  last  sung 
at  Kalamata;  Nicholas  stood  still,  his  hawk  eyes  blaz- 
ing; but  most  were  quite  silent,  shifting  uneasily  at  their 
posts,  standing  now  on  one  leg,  now  on  the  other.  Petro- 

842 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GKAPES 

bey,  perhaps  alone,  for  he  had  to  think  for  them  all,  was 
quite  calm,  and  his  mind  fully  occupied.  The  spur  be- 
hind which  the  Albanians  were  massed  was  almost  oppo- 
site the  gate  over  which  he  stood.  The  chances  were 
that  they  would  try  to  storm  it,  perhaps  try  to  storm 
both  the  gates  together,  the  other  of  which  was  diag- 
onally opposite  to  him. 

•At  last  round  the  shoulder  of  the  hill  poured  the  troops 
in  two  divisions,  still  four  hundred  yards  distant.  When 
the  rear  had  come  into  the  open,  the  first  were  about  two 
hundred  and  seventy  yards  off,  and  Petrobey,  glancing 
hastily  at  their  numbers  and  disposition,  spoke  to  Yanni 
without  turning  his  head. 

**  They  will  make  a  double  attack  here  and  on  the 
other  gate,"  he  said.  "  Run  like  hell  there,  and  direct 
the  fire  yourself ;  you  know  the  order." 

Yanni  rushed  across  the  camp,  and  just  as  he  got  up 
to  the  other  gate  he  heard  a  volley  of  musketry  from  Pe- 
trobey's  side.  The  Albanians  had  separated  into  two 
columns,  one  of  which,  skirting  round  the  camp  out  of 
musket  -  range,  soon  appeared  opposite  the  second  gate, 
at  a  distance  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards.  He 
waited  till  he  saw  the  whites  of  their  eyes,  and  then 
'^  Fire  !"  he  cried. 

They  were  moving  in  open  file  at  first,  but  they  closed 
as  they  got  nearer,  and  a  solid  column  of  men  advanced 
at  a  rapid  double  up  the  hundred  yards  incline.  The 
first  volley  took  them  when  the  foremost  were  about  sixty 
yards  off,  but  it  was  rather  wild,  and  the  men  for  the 
most  part  shot  over  their  heads.  Two  more  volleys  were 
delivered  with  greater  precision  before  they  got  up  to  the 
gate,  but  they  still  pressed  on.  A  party  of  men  had 
halted  on  the  hill  behind,  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
yards  off,  and  were  returning  the  fire,  but  without  effect, 

343 


THE    VINTAGE 

for  the  defenders  were  protected  by  the  wall,  and  the 
bullets  either  struck  that  or  whistled  over  the  top. 

Meantime  the  Greeks  in  the  centre  of  the  walls  be- 
tween the  two  gates  were  still  unemployed,  but  before 
ten  seconds  were  passed  Petrobey  saw  that  they  would 
be  wanted,  and  he  sent  a  sergeant  flying  across  to  marshal 
them,  the  first  rows  kneeling,  the  others  standing,  oppo- 
site the  gate  on  which  he  stood,  which  he  saw  was  on  the 
point  of  yielding  to  the  assault.  Nicholas,  meantime, 
had  drawn  up  his  men  by  the  gate  opposite,  and  was 
prepared,  in  case  it  was  forced,  to  receive  them  in  the 
same  manner. 

Before  five  minutes  had  elapsed  since  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  Albanians  round  the  hill,  Petrobey's  gate 
burst  in  with  a  crash,  but  the  assailants  were  met  by  a 
torrent  of  bullets  from  those  in  reserve  inside,  which 
fairly  drove  them  off  their  feet,  and  next  moment  the 
gate  was  clear  again.  Then  Nicholas  knew  his  time  had 
come.  He  divided  his  men  into  two  parts,  and,  charging 
out  at  the  wrecked  gate,  led  them  at  a  double's  double, 
half  to  the  right,  half  to  the  left,  round  the  camp,  and 
close  under  the  walls,  so  that  the  Greeks'  fire  went  over 
their  heads,  and  they  fell  on  both  flanks  of  the  Alba- 
nians who  were  attacking  the  opposite  gate.  At  that 
moment,  Yanni,  seeing  what  was  happening,  stopped 
the  fire  from  inside  the  walls,  and  at  an  order  from  Pe- 
trobey caused  the  gate  to  be  opened,  and  a  company  of 
those  who  had  been  manning  the  walls  hurled  themselves 
onto  the  assailants.  This  triple  attack  was  irresistible, 
and  in  a  couple  of  minutes  more  the  phalanx  of  Alba- 
nians was  in  full  rout,  and  the  hill-sides  were  covered  with 
groups  of  men  in  individual  combat.  The  party  they 
had  left  on  the  hill,  being  no  longer  able  to  fire  into  the 
mdlee,  rushed  down  to  join  in  the  scrimmage,  and  Petro- 

344 


THE  TREADING. OF  THE  GRAPES 

bey,  leaving  only  a  small  number  of  men  inside,  sufficient 
to  defend  both  gates,  called  out  all  the  rest  and  headed 
in  person  the  charge  on  the  first  attacking  party. 

Up  and  down  the  stony  hill -sides  chased,  and  were 
chased,  the  Greeks.  Now  and  then  a  party  of  Albanians 
would  try  to  form  in  some  sort  of  order  to  make  a  com- 
bined assault  on  the  broken-down  gate,  and  as  often  they 
were  scattered  again  by  knots  of  men  who  rushed  wild- 
ly upon  them  from  all  sides.  In  point  of  numbers,  the 
Albanians  had  had  the  advantage  at  the  first  attack,  but 
that  short-range  fire  from  the  walls  had  been  of  a  deci- 
mating nature,  and  now  the  Greeks  had  the  superiority. 

Mitsos,  who  had  gone  out  with  Nicholas,  found  him- 
self almost  swept  off  his  feet  by  the  rush  of  his  own  coun- 
trymen from  the  gate,  and  for  a  few  moments  he  was 
carried  along  helpless,  neither  striking  nor  being  able  to 
strike,  but  with  a  curious  red  happiness  in  his  heart, 
singing  the  "  Song  of  the  Vine-diggers,"  though  he  knew 
not  he  was  singing  it.  Then  suddenly  at  his  elbow  ap- 
peared a  glaring,  fierce  face,  as  crimson  as  sunset,  and  he 
found  himself  jammed  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Yanni, 
who  was  swearing  as  hard  as  he  could  lay  tongue  to  it, 
not  that  he  was  angry,  but  because  the  madness  of  fight- 
ing was  on  him,  and  it  happened  to  take  him  that  way. 

'^  DonH  shout,  you  big  pig,"  called  he  to  Mitsos  ;  ^'  why, 
in  the  name  of  all  the  devils  in  the  pit,  don't  you  get  out 
of  my  way  ?" 

"  Fat  old  Yanni !"  shouted  Mitsos.  "  Come  on,  little 
cousin. 

"  '  Dig  we  deep  among  the  vines.' 

Eh,  but  there  are  fine  grapes  for  the  gathering  \" 

'^Go  to  hellP'  screamed  Yanni.  "Hullo,  Mitsos,  this 
is  better." 

845 


THE    VINTAGE 

They  had  squeezed  themselves  out  into  a  backwater 
of  the  congested  stream  of  men,  and  in  full  front  stood 
a  great  hairy  Albanian  with  his  sword  just  raised  to 
strike.  But  Mitsos,  flying  at  him  like  a  wild-cat,  threw 
in  the  man^s  face  the  hand  which  grasped  his  short,  dag- 
ger-like sword  as  you  would  throw  a  stone  ;  the  uplifted 
sword  swung  over  his  back  harmlessly,  while  the  blade 
of  his  own  dagger  made  a  great  red  rent  in  the  man's 
face,  and  he  fell  back. 

^'  Your  mother  won't  know  you  now,"  sang  out  Mit- 
sos, burying  his  knife  in  his  throat.  "  'Dig  we  deep' — 
that's  deep  enough,  Yanni — 'the  summer's  here.'" 

There  was  little  work  for  muskets,  for  no  man  had 
time  or  room  to  load,  and  Yanni  went  on  his  blas- 
phemous way  swinging  his  by  the  barrel,  and  dealing 
blows  right  and  left  with  the  butt,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
he  and  Mitsos  found  themselves  out  of  the  crowd  alone 
but  for  a  dead  Greek  lying  there,  on  a  little  hillock  some 
fifty  yards  from  the  gate,  while  the  fight  flickered  up 
and  down  on  each  side  of  them. 

"  Eh,  but  there's  little  breath  left  in  this  carcass," 
panted  Yanni.  ''  Why,  Mitsos,  your  head's  all  covered 
with  blood ;  there's  a  slice  out  of  your  forehead." 

Mitsos'  black  curls,  in  fact,  were  dripping  from  a  cut 
on  his  head,  and  what  with  the  blood  and  the  dust  and 
the  sweat,  he  was  in  a  fine  mess  ;  but  he  himself  had  not 
known  he  was  touched.  Yanni  bound  it  up  for  him  with 
a  strip  of  his  shirt,  and  the  two  ran  down  again  into  the 
fight.  There  the  tide  was  strongly  setting  in  favor  of 
the  Greeks ;  but  the  Albanians  were  beginning  to  form 
again  on  a  spur  of  rock,  and  stragglers  from  below  kept 
joining  them.  Petrobey,  thinking  that  this  was  pre- 
paratory to  another  attack  on  the  gate,  as  an  additional 
defence  drew  off  some  hundred  men  from  the  Mainats — 

346 


THE  TKEADINa  OF  THE  GRAPES 

who  had  stuck  together,  and  were  the  only  company  who 
preserved  even  the  semblance  of  order — when  he  saw 
that  there  was  no  such  intention  on  the  enemy's  part, 
for  the  body  suddenly  wheeled  and  disappeared  over  the 
brow  of  the  hill  in  the  direction  of  the  plain,  followed 
by  those  who  were  fighting  in  other  parts  of  the  field. 
For  the  time  they  had  had  enough  of  this  nest  of  hornets. 

They  retreated  in  good  order,  pursued  by  skirmishing 
parties  from  the  Greeks,  who  followed  them  with  deri- 
sion, and  bullets ;  but  Petrobey's  orders  had  been  that 
they  should  not  advance  beyond  the  broken  ground  and 
expose  themselves  to  an  attack  by  the  cavalry,  and  in 
half  an  hour  more  they  had  all  come  back  to  camp. 

The  skirmish  had  lasted  about  three  hours  ;  but  Petro- 
bey  knew  that  the  fighting  was  not  over  yet.  The  cav- 
alry had  been  moved  from  the  plain  onto  one  of  the 
lower  foothills  to  which  the  routed  Albanians  retreated, 
while  the  detachment  which  had  started  as  if  to  attack 
the  Greek  post  on  the  hills  to  the  east  had  evidently 
been  recalled,  for  it  had  passed  the  road  along  which  the 
troops  had  first  come,  and  was  now  marching  straight 
across  the  narrow  strip  of  plain  which  separated  it  from 
the  range  on  which  Valtetzi  stood ;  an  hour  afterwards 
it  had  joined  the  cavalry  below,  and  half  an  eye  could 
see  that  another  assault  was  being  planned.  The  long 
train  of  baggage  mules  was  left  on  the  plain,  but  between 
them  and  the  Greeks  was  the  whole  body  of  Albanian 
and  Turkish  troops,  which,  so  it  had  seemed,  and  not 
incautiously,  to  Achmet  Bey,  was  protection  enough. 
Soon  it  was  seen  that  the  troops  were  in  motion  again, 
and  the  whole  body  of  infantry  and  cavalry  together 
moved  up  the  slope  towards  the  camp.  They  were 
marching  up  one  side  of  a  long  ravine  which  was  cut  in 
the  mountain  from  top  to  bottom,  and  they  had  posted 

347 


THE    VINTAGE 

scouts  along  the  two  ridges  to  guard  against  any  attack 
which  might  he  contemplated  from  their  flank.  Half  a 
mile  farther  up,  however,  the  cavalry  halted,  for  the 
ground  was  getting  too  steep  and  bowlder-sown  to  permit 
a  farther  advance ;  hut  in  case  of  sudden  retreat  they 
could  prevent  pursuit  being  carried  farther. 

Petrobey  saw  what  was  coming,  but  he  hesitated.  His 
mouth  watered  after  the  baggage  train  below,  but  he 
feared  to  weaken  the  defence  of  the  camp  by  sending 
men  for  that  purpose.  Nicholas,  however,  was  clear. 
Guns  and  ammunition  and  baggage  were  fine  things  in 
their  way,  but  not  worth  measurable  risk ;  every  hand 
was  needed  at  Valtetzi,  and,  besides,  any  movement  from 
the  Greek  camp,  even  if  they  sent  the  men  round  by  a 
circuitous  route  down  the  next  ravine,  would  be  observed 
by  the  scouts;  an  opportunity,  however,  might  come  later. 

For  three  hours  more  desultory  and  skirmishing  attacks 
were  made  by  the  Albanians  on  the  camp ;  four  times 
they  advanced  a  column  right  up  to  one  or  other  gate, 
and  as  many  times  it  was  driven  back — twice  by  a  sortie 
from  the  inside,  twice  by  the  heavy  firing  from  the  walls ; 
and  at  last,  as  the  sun  began  to  decline  towards  the 
west,  they  were  called  back,  and  retreated  hurriedly  to- 
wards the  cavalry.  Then  Nicholas  saw  the  opportunity ; 
the  scouts  had  been  withdrawn  from  the  ridges,  for  they 
no  longer  expected  an  attack  from  the  flank,  and  he  with 
a  hundred  Mainats  set  off  down  a  paralled  ravine  hot- 
foot to  the  plain,  while  the  rest  of  the  men,  under 
Petrobey's  orders,  followed  the  enemy  at  a  distance, 
keeping  their  attention  fixed  on  them  in  expectation  of 
another  attack.  Achmet  Bey  at  last  thought  that  the 
Greeks  had  fallen  into  the  trap  he  had  baited  so  many 
times,  and  hoped  to  draw  them  down  into  the  plain, 
where  he  would  turn  and  crush  them  with  his  cavalry. 

848 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

They  were  already  approaching  the  last  hill  which 
bordered  on  the  level  ground  when  Petrobey,  who  kept 
his  eye  on  the  plain,  saw  Nicholas  and  his  band  wheel 
round  the  baggage  animals,  shooting  down  their  drivers, 
and  force  them  up  the  ravine  down  which  they  had 
come.  On  the  moment  he  gave  the  order  to  fire,  and 
the  Greeks  poured  a  volley  into  the  rear  of  the  infantry. 
The  Turks  were  fairly  caught.  If  Achmet  sent  the 
cavalry  on  to  rescue  the  baggage,  ^\,  -Creeks,  whose 
numbers  were  now  far  superior  to  the  infantry,  would 
in  all  probability  annihilate  them ;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  kept  the  cavalry  to  support  the  infantry,  the  baggage 
would  be  lost.  He  chose  the  lesser  evil,  and  as  the 
ground  was  now  becoming  smoother  and  more  level,  he 
directed  the  cavalry  to  charge  on  the  Greeks,  and  Petro- 
bey fairly  laughed  aloud. 

"  Run  away,  run  away,"  he  cried ;  ''  let  not  two  men 
remain  together." 

The  cavalry  charged,  but  there  was  simply  nothing  to 
charge.  Up  the  hill- sides  in  all  directions  fled  the 
Greeks,  choosing  the  stoniest  and  steepest  places,  and 
dispersing  as  they  ran  as  a  ball  of  quicksilver  breaks  and 
is  spread  to  all  parts  of  the  compass. 

Again  the  retreat  of  the  Turks  began,  and  once  more 
the  Greeks  gathered  and  engaged  their  attention.  In 
the  growing  dusk  no  attack  could  be  made,  for  the 
horses  were  already  beginning  to  Mumble  and  pick  their 
way  carefully  to  avoid  falling,  while  the  Greeks  still 
hung  on  their  rear  and  flanks  like  a  swarm  of  stinging 
insects.  When  the  hills  began  to  sink  into  the  plain 
Petrobey,  too,  sounded  the  retreat,  and  the  men,  though 
tired  and  hungry,  went  singing  up  the  hill-side.  At  first 
some  sang  the  "  Song  of  the  Vine-diggers,"  others  the 
"Fountain   Mavromati,"  others  the  "Swallow  Song," 

349 


THE    VINTAGE 

but  by  degrees  the  ''  Song  of  the  Klepht "  gained  volume, 
and  by  the  time  they  entered  the  camp  again  the  men 
were  all  singing  it,  and  it  rang  true  to  the  deed  they  had 
wrought.     And  thus  they  sang  : 

"Mother,  to  the  Turk 
I  will  not  be  a  slave, 
That  will  I  not  endure. 
If^t  me  take  my  gun, 
L^P^li  be  a  Klepht, 
Dwelling  with  the  beasts 
On  the  hills  and  rocks ; 
Snow  shall  be  my  coverlet, 
Stones  shall  be  my  bed. 
Weep  not,  mother;  mother,  mine, 
Pray  that  many  Turks 
Bite  the  dust  through  me." 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE   ENTEY   OF  GERMANOS 

Petrobey  was  not  slow  to  follow  up  his  advantage. 
By  them  in  their  mountain  nests  the  Ottoman  force  now 
in  Tripoli  was  evidently  not  to  be  feared  in  the  offensive, 
nor  could  it  dislodge  the  Greeks  from  the  positions  they 
had  taken  up  upon  the  high  and  hilly  ground.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Greeks  were  not  capable  of  meeting  cav- 
alry, and  they  must  at  present  keep  to  the  hills,  and  not 
attempt  to  blockade  the  town  closely,  for  in  so  doing 
they  would  have  to  leave  their  heights  for  the  plain  in 
which  the  fortress  stood,  and  expose  themselves  to  the 
horse.  But  with  the  ever-increasing  numbers  that  were 
flocking  to  the  Greek  standard,  the  camp  at  Valtetzi  was 
rapidly  getting  insufficient  in  accommodation,  and  at 
the  same  time  any  additional  position  on  the  hills  would 
be  another  link  in  the  iron  chain  which  was  being  forged 
round  the  town  ;  and  now,  when  it  was  unlikely  that 
the  Turks  would  risk  a  further  engagement  at  once,  was 
the  moment  for  advancing  another  step. 

Exactly  to  the  west  of  Tripoli,  and  within  rifle-shot 
of  its  walls,  stood  three  steep  spurs  of  hill,  known  as 
Trikorpha.  The  same  stir  of  primeval  forces  which 
threw  up  the  crag  on  which  Valtetzi  stood,  must  have 
cast  them  up  bubbling  and  basaltic  through  some  vol- 
canic vent-hole,  long  after  the  great  range  behind  was 
fixed.     They  were  like  the  ragged  peaks  of  slag  cast  out 

361 


THE    VINTAGE 

by  a  gaseous  coal  consuming  in  the  fire,  and,  standing 
some  four  hundred  feet  above  the  plain,  were  yet  most 
conveniently  near  the  town.  Nearly  at  the  top  gushed 
out  a  riotous  cold  stream  from  the  dark  lips  of  the  rocks, 
fringed  with  shivering  maidenhair  and  dripping  moss, 
and  behind  on  the  mountain  was  good  pasturage  for 
flocks.  Lower  down,  where  the  stream -bed  widened, 
burst  a  luxuriant  patch  of  oleanders  and  stiff  cushions 
of  cistus  and  spina  sacra ;  but  the  heights  themselves, 
save  for  the  water-course,  were  barren.  The  three  peaks 
were  joined  to  each  other  by  a  sharp  rocky  ridge,  but  all 
were  isolated  from  the  mountains  on  one  side  and  the 
plain  on  the  other. 

Petrobey  set  about  securing  this  position  without  de- 
lay, though,  in  truth,  the  Turks  were  in  no  temper  to 
prevent  him,  and  the  work  sped  apace.  The  place  was 
nigh  impregnable,  and  the  walls,  of  rough  blocks  of  stone 
gathered  from  the  peaks,  were  made  as  much  with  a  view 
to  clearing  the  ground  for  the  soldiers'  huts  as  to  provid- 
ing the  place  with  a  defensible  wall.  From  here,  too,  by 
night  they  could  push  their  devastating  raids  right  under 
the  walls  of  Tripoli  itself,  for  it  was  but  a  stone-cast  to 
the  foot  of  their  eyry  ;  and  early  in  June  the  larger  part 
of  the  men  encamped  at  Yaltetzi  took  up  their  quarters 
in  this  new  nest,  swarming  there  as  in  spring  the  overfull 
hive  sends  out  its  colonists.  The  Argive  corps  remained 
in  the  old  nest,  under  the  command  of  Demetri,  who  the 
year  before  had  been  mayor  of  Nauplia,  while  in  the  new 
position  the  Mainats,  under  Petrobey,  occupied  the 
northernmost  of  the  three  peaks ;  Nicholas,  with  a  regi- 
ment chiefly  of  Arcadian  troops,  the  southernmost ;  and 
in  the  centre  a  smaller  body  from  the  parts  about  Sparta, 
under  the  command  of  a  local  chieftain,  whom  they  had 
followed,  one  Poniropoulos,  a  man  as  crooked  in  mind 

852 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

and  morality  as  a  warped  vine-stem,  but  who,  as  he  was 
chosen  leader  by  his  contingent,  was  of  necessity  in  com- 
mand. 

Meantime  from  every  part  of  the  country  was  coming 
in  news  no  longer  of  butchery  of  unarmed  Turks  in  de- 
fenceless farm-houses,  but  of  regular  sieges  of  Turkish 
towns,  sometimes  successful,  sometimes  still  protracted 
and  of  uncertain  issue.  Several  of  the  Greek  islands, 
notably  Psara,  Spetzas,  and  Hydra,  had  risen,  and  had 
already  sent  out  that  which  was  so  sorely  needed — a  fleet 
to  watch  the  coasts  and  destroy  Turkish  ships  —  thus 
preventing  them  from  bringing  men,  provisions,  or  am- 
munition into  the  Peloponnesus.  Already  during  May 
had  this  fleet  performed  some  notable  exploits,  chief 
among  which  was  the  destruction  of  a  Turkish  frigate 
bringing  arms  and  men  from  a  port  in  Asia  Minor.  She 
was  caught  just  outside  Nauplia,  and,  after  a  desperate 
resistance,  boarded  and  taken.  Only  two  days  later  two 
Hydriot  brigs  overtook  a  vessel  sailing  from  Constantino- 
ple to  Egypt  with  rich  presents  on  board  from  the  Sultan 
Mahmud  to  Mehemet  Ali,  a  cargo  which  caused  shame 
and  dishonor  to  the  captors.  All  on  board  were  ruthless- 
ly murdered,  the  persons  of  women  were  searched  for 
treasure,  which  they  might  have  concealed  about  them, 
and  the  sailors,  disregarding  the  convention  under  which 
they  sailed,  whereby  one-half  of  the  prize  taken  was  ap- 
propriated to  the  conduct  of  the  war,  seized  on  the  whole 
and  divided  it  up,  and,  fired  by  the  lust  of  wealth  so  easily 
gotten,  became  privateers  rather  than  fellow-workers  in  a 
war  for  liberty.  Returning  to  Hydra,  they  found  embroil- 
ments of  all  sorts  going  on  between  the  primates  and  the 
captains  of  their  fleet,  and  throwing  in  their  lot  with  the 
former,  they  cemented  the  alliance  with  a  sufficient  share 
of  their  booty  and  prepared  for  sea  again,  each  man  think- 
z  353 


THE    VINTAGE 

ing  for  nanght  bnt  his  own  coffers.  Yet  there  were  tales 
of  exploits  and  great  heroisms  also,  and  notable  among 
them  the  deeds  of  the  Oapsina,  a  girl  of  Hydra,  and  head 
of  the  clan  of  Capsas,  who  sailed  her  own  ship,  working 
havoc  among  the  Turks.  There  was  something  strangely 
inspiriting  in  the  tale,  for  it  seemed  she  took  nothing  for 
herself,  but  gave  all  her  prizes  to  the  war  fund ;  also,  she 
was  more  beautiful  than  morning,  and  dazzled  the  eyes  of 
men. 

On  the  second  cruise  three  ships  from  Spetzas  crossed 
straight  over  to  the  Peloponnesus  to  assist  in  the  blockade 
of  Monemvasia,  which  was  besieged  on  the  land  side  by  a 
freshly  enrolled  body  of  men  from  the  southern  penin- 
sula, chiefly  from  Sparta  and  the  outlying  portions  of 
Argos.  The  town  was  known  to  be  very  wealthy,  and 
the  commander  of  the  Greeks,  finding  that  until  com- 
munication by  sea  was  intercepted  it  was  impossible  to 
starve  the  town  out,  while  his  own  force  was  inadequate 
to  storm  it,  had  invited  the  co  -  operation  of  the  fleet, 
stipulating  that  a  third  of  the  spoil  taken  should  go  to 
the  soldiers,  one-third  to  the  fleet,  and  one-third  to  the 
national  treasury.  But  scarcely  had  the  ships  arrived 
when  quarrels  began  to  break  out  between  the  fleet  and 
the  army ;  a  spirit  of  mutual  mistrust  and  suspicion 
was  abroad  ;  and  the  soldiers,  on  one  hand,  accused  the 
fleet  of  making  a  private  contract  with  the  besieged,  to 
the  effect  that  their  lives  would  be  spared  and  themselves 
conveyed  to  Asia  Minor  in  ships  on  the  surrender  of  their 
property  ;  while  the  sailors  brought  a  counter-accusation 
that  there  was  a  plot  on  foot  among  the  infantry  to  at- 
tempt to  storm  the  town  and  carry  off  the  booty  before 
they  could  claim  their  share.  Every  one  looked  after 
his  own  interest,  and  the  only  matter  that  was  quite 
disregarded  was  the  interest  of  the  nation.     But  to  the 

354 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

soldiers  more  intolerable  than  all  was  the  conduct  of  three 
primates  from  Spetzas,  who  took  upon  themselves  the 
airs  and  dignities  which  the  Greeks  had  been  accustomed 
to  see  worn  by  Turkish  officials ;  and  though  to  a  great 
extent  this  war  was  a  religious  war,  yet  the  peasants  had 
no  mind  to  see  the  places  their  masters  had  occupied 
tenanted  anew  by  any  one. 

This  example  of  the  island  primates  was  to  a  certain 
extent  followed  by  their  brethren  on  the  main-land. 
There  had  sprung  into  existence,  in  the  last  month  or  so, 
two  great  powers  in  Greece,  the  army  and  the  church, 
still  in  that  time  the  mistress  of  men's  souls ;  and  the  pri- 
mates, who  before  the  Turkish  supremacy  had  been 
temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  princes,  wished  to  see  them- 
selves reinstated  in  the  positions  they  had  held.  Many 
of  them  too,  such  as  Germanos,  at  Patras,  had  worked 
with  a  true  and  simple  purpose  for  the  liberation  of  their 
country ;  and  now  that  the  people  were  beginning  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  their  labors,  they  looked  to  receive  their  due, 
and  their  demands,  on  the  whole,  were  just.  But  never 
were  demands  made  at  so  unseasonable  an  opportunity, 
for  while  the  military  leaders  shrugged  their  shoulders, 
saying  "This  is  our  work  as  yet,"  they  obtained  but  a 
divided  allegiance,  for  the  people  were  devoted  to  their 
church.  The  result  was  a  most  unhappy  distrust  and 
suspicion  between  the  two  parties.  The  primates  openly 
said  that  the  object  of  the  military  leaders  was  their  own 
aggrandizement  to  the  detriment  of  other  interests,  the 
military  leaders  that  their  reverend  friends  were  interfer- 
ing in  concerns  outside  of  their  province.  Even  greater 
complications  ensued  when  the  primates  themselves,  as  in 
the  case  of  Germanos,  were  men  who  fought  with  earthly 
weapons,  and  he,  taking  strongly  the  side  of  the  church  as 
against  the  army,  was  the  cause  of  much  seditious  feeling. 

355 


THE    VINTAGE 

The  personal  ascendency  of  Petrobey  and  Nicholas  was 
a  large  mitigation  of  these  evils  in  the  army  at  Tripoli, 
but  both  felt  that  their  position  was  unsettled,  depend- 
ing only  on  popular  favor,  and  matters  came  to  a  crisis 
when  Germanos  himself  came  to  the  camp  from  Patras 
with  an  armed  following.  To  do  the  man  justice,  it  was 
jealousy  for  the  church,  not  the  personal  greed  of  power, 
which  inspired  him ;  as  a  prince  of  that  body  and  a  vicar 
of  Christ,  he  had  invested  himself  with  the  insignia  of 
his  position.  But  it  was  the  royalty  of  his  Master  and 
not  His  humility  which  he  would  fain  represent,  and  if 
he  had  remembered  the  entry  of  One  into  His  chosen 
city,  meek  and  sitting  upon  an  ass  and  a  colt,  the  foal  of 
an  ass,  his  heart  would  have  been  better  turned  to  the 
spirit  of  the  King  of  kings. 

Not  as  such  entered  Germanos  into  the  camp.  Before 
him  went  a  body  of  armed  men,  followed  by  six  acolytes 
swinging  censers,  then  the  cross-bearer,  holding  high  his 
glittering  silver  symbol  wrought  but  lately,  on  which 
Germanos  had  lavished  the  greater  part  of  the  booty 
which  had  been  his  at  the  taking  of  Kalavryta,  and  then 
borne  in  a  chair  on  the  shoulders  of  four  monks  the  arch- 
bishop himself.  His  head  was  bare,  for  in  his  hands  he 
carried  the  gold  vessels  of  the  sacrament,  those  which 
the  Emperor  Palaeologus  had  given  to  the  monastery  at 
Megaspelaion,  and  over  his  shoulders  flowed  his  thick, 
black  hair,  just  touched  with  gray.  His  cope,  another 
priceless  treasure  from  his  own  sacristy,  was  fastened 
round  in  front  of  his  neck  with  a  gold  clasp,  set  with  one 
huge,  ancient  emerald.  It  covered  him  from  shoulder 
almost  to  foot,  all  shimmering  white  of  woven  silk,  w4th 
a  border  wrought  with  crimson  and  gold  pomegranates, 
and  thinly  below  showed  the  white  line  of  the  alb  and 
the  ends  of  his  embroidered  stole.     Of  his  other  vest- 

356 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GKAPES 

ments,  seven  in  all,  the  girdle  was  a  rope  of  gold  thread, 
the  knee-piece  hanging  below  it  was  embroidered  with 
the  three  Levitical  colors,  the  cuffs  were  of  lace  from 
Kalabaka,  and  the  chasuble  was  of  cambric,  close  fitting 
and  sleeved  according  to  the  use  of  Metropolitans.  Be- 
hind came  another  priest  carrying  the  office  of  the 
church,  bound  in  crimson  leather  with  gold  clasps,  and 
the  remainder  of  his  armed  guard  followed — in  all,  three 
hundred  men. 

It  was  an  act  of  inconceivable  folly,  but  a  folly  of  a 
certain  magnificent  sort,  for  in  Germanos's  mind  the  only 
thought  had  been  the  glory  of  the  church.  He  had 
travelled  five  days  from  Kalavryta,  and  so  far  he  had 
been  received  by  the  posts  of  the  Greek  army  with  rev- 
erence and  respect.  But  his  reception  here,  he  knew, 
was  the  touchstone  of  the  success  of  his  party,  for  the 
scornful  Mainats  looked  askance  on  clergy,  and  left  them 
to  do  their  praying  alone.  But  he  had  come,  so  he 
believed,  to  demand  the  vassalage  of  the  people  to  the 
King  of  kings,  and  that  duty,  so  he  thought,  admitted 
neither  delay  nor  compromise. 

Yanni,  who  was  lounging  on  the  wall  with  Mitsos  in  the 
afternoon  sun,  preparatory  to  starting  on  a  night  raid  down 
in  the  plains,  saw  him  coming  and  whistled  ominously. 

^^  There  will  be  mischief,^'  he  said,  softly,  to  Mitsos. 
"  Germanos  is  a  good  man  and  true,  but  these  little  pri- 
mates are  not  all  like  him." 

^^I  wish  they  would  leave  us  alone,"  grumbled  Mitsos  ; 
''that  little  monkey-faced  Charalambes  is  doing  a  peck 
of  harm.  He  tells  the  men  that  all  the  fighting  is  for  the 
glory  of  God.  I  dare  say  it  is,  but  there  are  blows  to  be 
struck,  and  a  paper  man  would  strike  as  well  as  he.  Oh, 
Yanni,  but  Germanos  has  got  all  his  fine  clothes  on. 
Would  I  had  been  born  an  archbishop  !" 

357 


THE     VINTAGE 

The  procession  was  now  passing  close  under  them,  and, 
looking  closer,  Yanni  saw  what  Germanos  carried,  and 
got  down  and  stood  uncovered,  crossing  himself.  Mitsos 
saw  too  and  followed  his  example,  but  frowning  the 
while.  It  struck  him  somehow  that  this  was  not  fair 
play. 

Petrobey  received  the  archbishop  with  the  greatest 
respect,  and  had  erected  for  him  another  hut  next  his 
own.  An  order  went  round  the  camp  that  every  man 
was  to  attend  mass,  which  would  be  celebrated  at  day- 
break the  following  day ;  but  after  supper  that  night  Pe- 
trobey, Nicholas,  and  the  archbishop  talked  long  together. 
Mitsos,  to  his  great  delight,  was  put  in  command  of 
some  twenty  young  Mainats,  who  were  to  prowl  about 
and  do  damage,  along  with  other  parties,  and  Germanos, 
who  looked  on  the  boy  with  peculiar  favor,  gave  him  his 
blessing  before  he  set  out. 

"You  were  ever  a  man  who  could  deal  with  men,^'  he 
said  to  Nicholas,  as  the  boy  went  out,  "and  you  have 
trained  the  finest  lad  in  Greece.  But  we  have  other 
things  to  talk  of,  and  let  us  shake  hands  first,  for  I  know 
not  whether  what  I  have  to  say  will  find  favor  with  you. 
For  we  are  friends,  are  we  not  V 

Nicholas  smiled. 

"  Old  friends,  surely,^'  he  said.    "  May  we  long  be  so  !" 

"That  is  well,"  said  Germanos,  seating  himself  ;  "but 
first  I  have  to  tell  you  news  which  I  hope  may  bind  us 
even  closer  together,  though  with  a  tie  of  horror  and 
amazement.  Our  patriarch,  Gregorios,  whom  I  think 
you  knew,  Nicholas,  was  executed  at  Constantinople  on 
Easter  Day,  by  order  of  the  Sultan  !" 

Nicholas  and  Petrobey  sprang  from  their  seats. 

"  Gregorios  !"  they  exclaimed  in  whispered  horror. 

"  Executed,  dying  the  most  shameful  death,  hanged  at 
358 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

the  gate  of  the  Patriarchate.  Ah,  but  the  vengeance  of 
God  is  swift  and  sure,  and  the  blood  of  another  martyr 
cries  from  the  ground.  Oh,  let  this  bind  us  together ; 
hanged,  the  death  of  a  dog ;  he,  the  holiest  of  men." 

Germanos  bowed  his  head  and  there  was  silence  for  a 
moment. 

"  That  was  not  enough,"  he  continued,  his  voice  trem- 
bling with  a  passionate  emotion.  "For  three  days  he 
hung  there,  and  the  street  dogs  leaped  up  to  bite  at  the 
body.  Then  it  was  given  to  the  Jews,  and  I  would  sooner 
have  seen  it  devoured  by  the  dogs  than  cast  into  the 
hands  of  those  beasts ;  and  they  dragged  it  through  the 
streets  and  threw  it  into  the  sea.  But  pious  men  watched 
it  and  took  it  to  Odessa,  where  it  was  given  burial  such 
as  befits  the  body  of  one  of  the  saints  of  God.  And 
though  dead,  he  works,  for  on  the  ship  that  took  it  there 
was  a  woman  stricken  with  paralysis,  and  they  brought 
her  to  touch  the  body,  and  she  went  away  whole." 

Nicholas  was  sitting  with  his  face  in  his  hands,  but  at 
this  he  looked  up. 

"Glory  to  God  !"  he  cried,  "for  in  heaven  His  mar- 
tyr now  pleads  for  us." 

Petrobey  crossed  himself. 

"Glory  to  God!"  he  repeated.  "Bat  tell  us  more, 
father ;  what  was  the  cause  of  this  ?" 

"He  died  for  us,"  said  Germanos;  "for  the  liberty 
of  the  Greeks.  As  you  know,  he  was  in  the  secrets  of 
the  patriots,  and  one  of  the  agents  of  the  club  which 
supplied  funds  for  the  war  was  found  to  have  letters 
from  the  patriarch,  which  showed  his  complicity.  Im- 
mediately after  the  execution  the  election  for  a  new  pa- 
triarch took  place,  and  Eugenios,  of  Pisidia,  was  chosen, 
and  his  election  ratified  by  Gregorios's  murderer." 

Nicholas  struck  the  table  with  his  fist. 
859 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  I  give  no  allegiance  there,"  said  he.  '^  Is  the  church 
a  toy  in  that  devirs  hands,  and  shall  we  bow  to  his  pup- 
pets r 

Germanos  looked  up  quickly. 

''I  wanted  to  know  your  opinion  on  that,"  he  said, 
'^  and  you,  Petrobey,  go  with  your  cousin  ?  But  in  the 
mean  time  we  have  no  head." 

"But  at  the  death  of  a  patriarch,"  asked  Nicholas, 
"  what  is  the  usual  course  ?" 

Germanos  hesitated. 

"  You  will  see,"  he  said,  "  why  I  paused,  for  it  is  in 
the  canon  of  the  church  that  till  the  next  patriarch  is 
appointed  the  supremacy  of  the  church  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  senior  archbishop." 

Nicholas  rose. 

"  There  is  none  so  fit  as  yourself,"  he  said,  "  and  here 
and  now  I  give  you  my  allegiance,  and  I  promise  to  obey 
you  in  all  matters  within  your  jurisdiction,  and  for  the 
glory  of  God." 

Germanos  gave  them  his  blessing,  and  both  kissed  his 
hand  ;  and  when  they  had  seated  themselves  again  he 
bent  forward,  and  began  to  speak  with  greater  earnest- 
ness. 

"And  that,  in  part,  is  why  I  am  here,"  he  said,  "to 
accept  in  the  name  of  the  church  the  allegiance  of  the 
Greek  army.  We  must  not  forget  among  these  night  at- 
tacks and  skirmishes  and  sieges  that  for  which  we  work 
— the  liberty  of  Greece,  it  is  true,  but  the  purpose  of 
her  liberty — to  let  a  free  people  serve  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  and  pull  under  no  infidel  yoke  to  the  lash  of 
unbelievers.  Believe  me,  my  friends,  how  deeply  un- 
worthy I  feel  of  the  high  office  which  has  thus  come 
upon  my  shoulders,  but  help  me  to  bear  it,  though  in 
that  the  flesh  is  weak  I  would  in  weakness  shrink  from 

360 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

it.  But  much  lies  in  your  power  and  active  help,  for  I 
know  what  deep  influence  both  of  you,  and  deservedly, 
have  with  these  men.  Yet  since  to  every  man  is  his 
part  appointed  by  God  Himself,  I  would  not  recoil  from 
the  task  and  heavy  responsibility  which  are  on  me  as 
head  of  this  people,  who  are  fighting  for  their  liberty ; 
and  though  I  am  not  jealous  for  myself,  as  some  would 
maliciously  count  me,  I  am  very  jealous  for  Him  with 
whose  authority  I,  all  unworthy,  have  been  invested." 

Germanos  paused  for  a  moment,  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
ground,  and  Nicholas,  looking  across  at  Petrobey,  half 
began  to  speak,  but  the  other  by  an  almost  imperceptible 
gesture  silenced  him.  But  Germanos  paused  only  for  a 
moment  and  went  on,  speaking  a  little  quicker,  but 
weighing  his  words. 

''For  who  is  the  general  we  all  fight  under,  but  One  ? 
Who  is  the  giver  of  victory,  but  He  alone  ?  And  I — I 
speak  in  a  sort  of  proud  humility — I  am  the  head  of  His 
bride,  the  church,  and  the  shepherd  of  His  flock,  this 
people.  Do  not  misunderstand  me,  for  I  speak  not  for 
myself,  but  for  Him.  Already  dangers,  not  those  from 
our  enemies  the  Turks,  but  from  friends  more  deadly 
than  they,  compass  us  about  on  all  sides,  and  are  with 
us  when  we  sit  down  to  eat  and  take  our  rest,  and  if  we 
are  not  careful  they  will  poison  all  we  do.  Already  at 
Kalavryta,  whence  I  am  come  —  already,  as  I  hear,  at 
Monemvasia ;  but  not,  as  I  hope  and  trust,  here — are 
there  greedy  and  wicked  men,  who,  raised  to  power  for 
which  they  have  no  fltness,  having  no  self-control,  and 
being  therefore  incapable  of  controlling  others,  save  in 
the  way  of  inflaming  their  lusts  by  example  like  beasts 
of  the  fields,  already  have  many  such,  finding  themselves 
in  command  of  some  small  local  following,  led  their  men 
on  by  hopes  of  gain  and  promises  of  reward.     They  are 

361 


THE    VINTAGE 

becoming  no  better  than  brigands,  despoiling  the  de- 
fenceless, and  each  man  pocketing  his  gains. " 

Petrobey  here  looked  up. 

''Pardon  me,"  he  said,  ''though  such  conduct  has 
taken  place  on  certain  ships,  I  think  that  there  has  been 
none  among  the  soldiers.  Half  the  booty  taken  is  put 
aside  for  the  purpose  of  the  war ;  half,  as  is  right,  is 
shared  among  those  who  acquire  it." 

Germanos  looked  at  him  keenly,  and  went  on  with 
growing  eloquence. 

"You  have  hit  the  very  point,"  he  said,  "towards 
which  I  have  been  making.  Half,  as  you  say,  is  put 
away  for  the  purposes  of  the  war,  and  though  I  think 
that  is  too  large  a  proportion,  still  the  question  is  only 
one  of  degree,  and  we  will  pass  it  over.  Half  again,  as- 
you  say,  is  shared  among  those  who  acquire  it.  There  is 
the  blot,  the  defect  of  the  whole  system.  What  are  we 
fighting  for  ?  For  wealth  or  for  liberty  ?  Surely  for 
liberty  and  the  glory  of  God  !  To  fight  in  such  a  cause, 
and  to  fall  in  such  a  cause,  is  surely  an  exceeding  reward. 
But  what  of  the  glory  of  God  ?  Is  it  not  to  Him  that  this, 
no  niggardly  tithe,  but  half  the  goods  we  possess,  should 
be  given  ?  Is  it  not  He  who  has  given  us  the  strength  to 
fight,  and  the  will  before  which  even  now  the  Turk  is 
crumpling  as  a  ship  crumples  the  waves  ?  And  for  this 
shall  we  give  Him  nothing  ?  Shall  every  peasant  possess 
his  hoard  taken  from  the  Turk,  and  the  church  of  God 
go  begging  ?  Have  we  not  given  our  lives  to  His  service, 
without  hope  of  reward  indeed,  but  very  jealous  for  His 
honor  ?  And  how  shall  we  serve  Him  as  we  ought, 
when  our  churches  stand  half  ruined  to  the  winds  of 
heaven,  and  our  monks,  to  support  themselves,  must 
needs  hoe  in  the  fields  and  vineyards,  and  bring  but  a 
tired  frame  to  the  blessed  service  of  the  church  ?    Is  it 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

not  there  this  should  be  bestowed — on  the  church,  on  the 
priests  and  the  primates,  on  the  heads  and  princes  of  the 
church,  to  be  used  by  them  for  the  glory  of  their  Master  ? 
Some  of  us,  I  know,  would  wish  to  endow  a  king  to  rule 
over  a  free  people,  in  royal  obedience,  for  so  they  phrase 
it,  to  a  people's  will.  Is  it  not  enough  to  have  for  our 
king,  our  Master,  our  tender  Friend,  the  King  of  kings  ? 
This  only  is  the  kingdom  whose  citizenship  I  covet,  for 
it  is  beyond  price,  and  it  is  but  a  dubious  love  for  Him 
that  is  ours,  if  we  give  Him,  as  we  fondly  tell  ourselves, 
our  hearts,  and  withhold  from  Him  our  gold  and  silver. 
Not  in  such  manner  worshipped  the  kings  of  the  East. 
Long  was  their  journey,  and  yet  we  who  fight  are  not 
more  footsore  than  they  ;  but  did  they  come  empty- 
handed  to  worship  ?  Gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh 
they  gave,  their  costliest  and  their  best.  Heart  worship 
let  us  give,  and  lip  worship  too,  and  let  our  hands  be 
open  in  giving;  it  is  in  giving  that  we  show,  poorly 
indeed,  but  in  the  best  and  only  way,  the  sincerity  of  our 
hearts.  Ah,  it  is  no  pale  spiritual  kingdom  only  that 
God  requires,  but  the  pledge  of  it  in  a  glorious  liberality, 
the  fruits  of  His  bounty  given  to  Him  again.  Let  there 
be  a  splendor  in  our  service  to  Him,  riches,  wealth,  all 
that  is  beautiful,  poured  out  freely ;  it  is  our  duty  to 
give — yes,  and  our  privilege." 

Petrobey  and  Nicholas  both  listened  in  dead  silence, 
for  they  respected  the  man,  and  they  revered  his  office. 
Of  the  honesty  and  integrity  of  his  words,  too,  neither 
felt  any  question  ;  but  when  in  the  history  of  warfare 
had  ears  ever  heard  so  impracticable  a  piece  of  rhetoric  ? 
Did  Germanos  really  suppose  that  these  soldiers  of  theirs 
were  risking  life,  possessions,  all  that  they  had,  for  the 
sake  of  the  heads  of  the  church  ?  Already  the  primates 
had  done  infinite  harm  by  their  pretentious  meddling, 

363 


THE    VINTAGE 

giving  themselves  the  airs  of  deposed  monarchs,  for  whom 
it  was  a  privilege  to  fight,  and  encouraging  seditious  talk 
among  the  men  by  hinting  openly  that  the  military  leaders 
were  in  league  with  the  Turks,  making  conventions  with 
them  by  which  their  lives  should  be  spared  on  the  sacri- 
fice of  their  property.  Germanos  himself,  as  they  knew, 
was  a  man  of  far  different  nature ;  this  scheme  of  his, 
by  which  half  the  booty  should  be  placed  unreservedly  in 
the  hands  of  the  heads  of  the  church,  to  be  used  for  the 
glory  of  God,  was  as  sunshine  is  to  midnight  compared 
to  the  vile  slanderings  of  his  inferiors.  But  how  would 
the  army  receive  it  ?  Was  Petrobey,  as  commander-in- 
chief,  or  Germanos,  as  head  of  this  people  of  God,  to  go 
to  them,  saying,  "  You  have  risked  your  lives,  and  it  is 
your  privilege  to  have  done  so  for  the  glory  of  God  ;  risk 
them  to-morrow  and  the  next  day  and  the  next  day,  and 
when  the  war  is  over,  and  unless  you  lie  on  the  battle- 
field, you  creep  back  to  your  dismantled  homes,  account 
it  a  privilege  that  you  have  been  permitted  to  give  to  the 
primates  and  priests  the  fruits  of  your  toil"'? 

Yet,  though  Germanos  was  accounted  a  man  of  integ- 
rity both  by  Petrobey  and  Nicholas,  how  could  there  but 
be  a  background  to  the  picture  he  had  drawn  ?  He  was 
a  man  to  whom  power  and  the  exercise  of  power  had  be- 
come a  habit,  and  the  habit  almost  a  passion.  Though 
this  scheme,  by  which  the  church  would  be  restored  to 
its  old  splendor  and  magnificence,  the  glory  of  those 
days  when  from  Constantinople  came  the  emperor  hum- 
bly and  suppliantly  with  great  gifts,  had  for  its  object 
the  glory  of  God,  yet  inasmuch  as  he  was  a  man  of 
dominant  nature  he  could  not  be  unaware  nor  disregard - 
ful  of  what  it  would  mean  to  him  personally.  What  a 
position  !  The  chances  were  ten  to  one  that  he  would  be 
chosen  to  fill  the  places  of  the  martyred  patriarch,  in- 

364 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

stead  of  the  Bishop  Eugenios,  well  known  to  the  Greeks 
as  a  middle-minded  man,  who  strove  to  keep  well  with 
both  Ottoman  and  Greek.  For,  in  truth,  this  was  no  time 
for  diplomatic  attitudes ;  each  man  must  take  one  side  or 
the  other,  and  now  to  consent  to  take  from  the  hands  of 
the  Sultan  the  insignia  of  his  victim  was  to  declare  one's 
self  no  patriot.  Greece  would  certainly  repudiate  the 
appointment  and  choose  a  supreme  head  for  itself,  and 
among  all  the  primates  and  bishops  there  was  none  who 
was  so  powerful  with  his  own  class,  and  so  popular 
among  the  people,  as  Germanos.  As  every  one  knew,  he 
had  thrown  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  revolution ; 
he  had  raised  the  northern  army,  he  had  headed  the  at- 
tempt on  the  citadel  of  Patras  in  person.  The  chosen 
head  of  a  new  and  splendid  church,  rising  glorious  in 
the  dawn  of  liberty,  sanctified  by  suffering,  proved  by  its 
steadfastness  to  endure,  a  church  for  which  blood  had 
been  shed,  and,  as  he  had  said,  no  pale  spiritual  kingdom 
only,  but  a  power  on  earth  as  in  heaven !  It  was  not  in 
the  nature  of  the  man  to  be  able  to  shut  his  eyes  to  that ; 
it  could  not  but  be  that  so  splendid  a  possibility  should 
be  without  weight  to  him.     His  next  words  showed  it. 

'^  Is  it  not  a  thing  to  make  the  heart  beat  fast  ?"  he 
went  on.  "  I  would  not  take  the  pontiff's  chair  in  Rome 
in  exchange  for  such  a  position.  A  new  church,  or 
rather,  the  old  grown  gloriously  young  again,  a  spiritual 
kingdom  throned  in  the  hearts  of  men,  yet  with  the  alle- 
giance not  only  of  their  souls,  but  of  their  bodies  and 
their  earthly  blessings.  And  I,"  he  said,  rising,  "  I,  the 
unworthy,  the  erring,  yet  called  by  a  call  that  I  may  not 
disobey." 

But  Nicholas,  frowning  deeply,  interrupted  him. 

'^I  ask  your  pardon,  father,"  he  said,  "but  is  it  well 
to  talk  of  that  ?     Surely  in  this  great  idea  which  you 

365 


THE    VINTAGE 

have  put  before  ns  tliere  is  nothing  personal.  It  is 
the  kingdom  of  God  of  which  we  speak." 

Germanos  paused  a  moment. 

''You  are  right,"  he  said;  ^^you  have  but  reminded 
me  of  my  own  words;  it  is  in  His  name  and  none  other 
that  I  speak." 

^^  There  is  another  point  of  view,  father,"  continued 
Nicholas,  ^^  which,  with  your  permission,  I  will  put  be- 
fore you.  I  speak,  I  hope,  as  it  is  fitting  I  should  speak 
to  you  ;  and  yet,  in  mere  justice  to  the  position  my 
cousin  and  I  hold,  we  must  tell  you  that  there  are  other 
interests  to  be  considered.  For  days  past  there  has  been 
division  among  us,  here  not  so  widely  as  at  other  places, 
but  division  there  is — and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  any- 
thing of  the  kind  is  most  disastrous.  There  are  in  the 
camp  priests  and  primates  who  have  been  saying  to  the 
men,  but  not  with  your  nobleness  of  aim,  that  which  you 
have  indicated  to  us.  This  war,  they  tell  them,  is  a  war  of 
religion  ;  they  are  the  champions  and  ordained  ministers 
of  religion,  and  it  is  to  them  the  soldiers'  obedience  is 
due.  What  did  they  get  for  their  pains  ?  A  shrug  of 
the  shoulders,  insolence,  perhaps  the  question,  'Are  we 
fighting  or  are  you  ?'  And  they  answer,  '  For  whom 
are  you  fighting  ?  For  your  captains  and  leaders,  let  us 
tell  you  ;  it  is  they  who  will  reap  the  fruits  of  your  toil ; 
it  is  they  who  will  get  the  booty  for  which  you  have 
spent  your  blood  and  left  your  homes.'  Now,  before 
God,  father,  that  is  a  satanic  slander ;  but  if  this  talk 
continues,  who  can  tell  but  that  it  may  become  in  part 
true  ?  For  as  the  army  increases  we  have  to  appoint 
fresh  captains,  and  often  it  happens  that  some  band  of 
men  come  in  with  their  appointed  leader,  whom  we  have 
to  accept.  These  are  not  all  such  men  as  my  cousin  and 
I  should  naturally  appoint ;  and  what  we  fear  is  this  ; 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

and  onr  fears,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  justified  by  what 
is  taking  place  at  Monemvasia.  These  captains  talk  to 
each  other,  saying,  ^  The  primates  are  trying  to  get  the 
whole  spoils  of  the  war  for  themselves.  Two  can  play 
at  that  game.  If  this  war  is  for  the  enrichment  of  the 
leaders,  let  it  be  for  the  enrichment  of  the  leaders  who 
have  done  the  work.'  And  some  of  this  talk,  too,  has 
reached  the  men,  with  this  result :  some  believe  what 
the  primates  say,  and  already  distrust  their  captains ; 
some  distrust  the  primates,  and  say  that  it  is  not  they 
who  are  doing  the  work,  and  why  should  they  look  for 
wages  ?  But  the  most  part  of  those  who  have  heard  this 
seditious  talk  distrust  both,  and  are  each  man  for  him- 
self. And  all  this  is  the  fault  of  the  primates.  This 
is  no  place  for  them ;  for  those  of  them,  at  least,  who 
have  taken  no  part  in  the  war.  It  is  the  work  of  sol- 
diers we  are  doing,  not  the  work  of  priests.  The  danger 
is  a  real  one  ;  as  you  say,  it  is  a  danger  from  those  who 
sit  at  meat  with  us,  and  more  deadly  and  more  intimate 
than  that  we  experience  from  our  enemies.  There  was 
none  of  it  before  the  primates  came  among  us.  I  have 
said." 

Nicholas  spoke  with  rising  anger ;  the  thought  of  these 
mean,  petty  squabbles  poisoned  the  hopes  which  had 
ruled  his  life  for  so  long.  Were  they  all  to  be  wrecked 
in  port  on  the  very  eve  of  their  fulfilment  ?  Strong  as 
the  Greek  position  now  was,  inevitable  though  the  fall 
of  Tripoli  appeared,  yet  he  knew  that  an  army  demoral- 
ized is  no  army  at  all.  "Was  the  honey  to  turn  to  bit- 
terness ?  Was  that  fair  day  that  seemed  now  dawning 
to  come  in  cloud  and  trouble  ? 

Germanos  had  listened  with  growing  resentment,  and 
he  burst  out  in  answer  : 

"  You  are  wrong,  Nicholas ;  believe  me,  you  are  wrong ! 
367 


THE    VINTAGE 

It  is  the  primates  who  have  to  pnt  up  with  insult.  This 
army  of  yours  is  a  band  of  wanton  children,  long  chid 
and  beaten,  breaking  out  from  school.  It  knows  neither 
reverence  nor  respect,  where  respect  is  due." 

"Ah,  pardon  me  again,"  said  Nicholas  ;  "the  first  duty 
of  the  soldier  is  obedience  to  those  who  are  put  over  him 
as  captains  and  commanders.  To  them  he  has  never  yet 
failed  in  respect  nor  in  obedience." 

"  These  soldiers  are  men,  I  take  it,"  said  Germanos, 
"and  the  first  duty  of  man  is  to  obey  those  who  are  over 
him  in  the  Lord." 

"  But,  father,  father  !"  cried  Nicholas,  pained  him- 
self, but  unwilling  to  give  pain,  "is  this  a  time,  now 
when  we  are  in  the  middle  of  the  operations  of  the  war, 
to  talk  of  that  ?  Of  course  you  are  right ;  that  every 
Christian  man  believes.  But  our  hands  are  full,  we  have 
this  siege  before  us,  and  it  is  injudicious  of  these  pri- 
mates to  stir  up  such  talk  now.  Oh,  I  am  no  hand  at 
speaking  ;  but  you  see,  do  you  not,  what  I  mean  ?  It  is 
the  Lord^s  work,  surely,  but  the  means  by  which  it  is 
accomplished  is  swords  in  unity,  men  bound  together  by 
one  aim." 

"And  that  aim  the  glory  of  God,"  said  Germanos. 

Nicholas  made  a  hopeless  gesture  of  dissent  and  shook 
his  head,  and  Petrobey,  who  had  hitherto  taken  no  part 
in  the  discussion,  broke  in  : 

"  Surely  we  can  do  better  than  wrangle  together  like 
boys,"  he  said.  "  It  is  no  light  matter  we  have  in  hand. 
But  let  us  talk  practically.  What  Nicholas  says  is  true. 
Father,  there  is  mischievous  talk  going  on,  and  there  was 
none  till  the  primates  came.  What  do  you  propose  to 
do  ?  Will  you  help  us  to  stop  it  ?  Will  you  speak  to  the 
men  ?  Will  you  tell  them  that,  though  you  are  a  pri- 
mate yourself,  yet  you  believe  in  the  integrity  of  the 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

military  commanders,  and  that  though  our  soldiers'  duty 
as  men  exacts  obedience  to  the  rulers  of  the  church,  yet 
their  duty  as  soldiers  exacts  obedience  to  their  com- 
manders, and  trust  in  them  V 

The  question  was  cleverly  chosen.  To  refuse  to  do  as 
Petrobey  asked  would,  without  an  explanation,  be  wholly 
unreasonable  ;  to  comply  would  be  tantamount  to  telling 
the  soldiers  to  disregard  the  primates.  Germanos  hesi- 
tated a  moment. 

^'  I  do  not  wish  to  put  myself  outside  my  province, '' 
said  Germanos,  '^and  I  am  here  only  as  the  head  of  the 
church,  and  not  as  a  military  leader.  To  interfere  with 
the  ordering  of  the  army  is  not  my  business." 

"  Then  how  much  less,''  said  Nicholas,  eagerly,  "  is  it 
the  business  of  your  inferiors  to  do  so  ?  Will  you,  then, 
tell  them  to  follow  your  own  most  wise  example  ?" 

Germanos  was  silent,  but  his  brain  was  busy,  and  yet 
he  had  no  reply  ready. 

"  See,"  said  Nicholas,  "  a  little  while  ago  you  asked  us 
to  help  you,  but  now  we  ask  you  to  help  us,  for  the  danger 
is  no  less  to  your  party  than  to  ours.  Speak  to  the  pri- 
mates if  you  will,  or  speak  to  the  captains  ;  they  will 
perhaps  listen  to  you." 

"  At  any  rate,  I  asked  not  your  help  against  my  own 
subordinates,"  said  Germanos,  in  a  sudden  flash  of  anger  ; 
*'if  you  want  help  against  your  own  men,  I  can  only 
say — "  and  with  that  he  stopped  short,  for  an  insult  was 
on  his  lips. 

Petrobey  sat  down  again  with  a  little  sigh,  but  Nicholas 
answered  Germanos  according  to  his  own  manner. 

*^Then  if  you  are  so  good  as  to  think  that  our  own 

affairs  are  out  of  hand,"  he  said,  with  angry  sarcasm, 

*Mt  will  be  time  to  think  of  helping  you  when  we  have 

put  them  in  order.     Let  me  quote  your  own  words  :  '  I 

2a  369 


THE    VINTAGE 

am  not  jealous  for  myself,  but  I  am  very  jealous  for  the 
honor  of  the  army,  and  I  have  myself  a  pledge  of  the 
favor  of  God  on  my  undertaking/" 

Germanos  held  up  his  hand  pacifically. 

"  We  shall  gain  nothing  by  quarrelling,"  he  said,  "  and 
I  am  in  the  wrong,  for  I  was  the  first  to  speak  in  anger. 
What  is  this  pledge  of  which  you  speak  ?" 

Nicholas  told  him  of  the  vision  at  Serrica,  and  when 
he  had  finished  it  was  gently  that  he  answered. 

''  Surely  the  Mother  of  God  looks  with  favor  on  you, 
Nicholas  !"  said  the  archbishop;  "and  for  her  sake,  if 
not  for  our  own,  let  us  see  if  we  cannot  put  an  end  to 
these  unhappy  divisions  of  which  you  tell  me.  You  lay 
the  whole  blame  on  my  order ;  are  you  sure  that  you  are 
not  hasty  ?" 

"  There  was  at  least  no  seditious  talk  before  the  pri- 
mates came,"  said  Nicholas. 

"I,  then,  have  a  proposal  to  make,"  said  Petrobey, 
'^  and  it  is  this  :  The  men  are  divided ;  some  side  with 
the  primates,  some  with  us.  The  two  parties  are  bitterly 
opposed.  If  a  supreme  council  was  appointed,  consisting 
of  primates  and  commanders,  might  not  the  division  be 
healed  ?" 

Nicholas  shook  his  head. 

''1  do  not  wish  to  make  difficulties,"  he  said,  "but 
the  case  is  this  :  The  siege  of  Tripoli  is  the  work  of 
the  army.  What  have  the  primates  to  do  with  it  ? 
I  might  as  well  demand  a  seat  in  the  synod  of  the 
church." 

Germanos's  eyea  brightened.  He  realized  the  impossi- 
bility of  pushing  his  first  demand  just  now,  and  this,  at 
any  rate,  would  be  a  step  gained.  For  the  rest,  he 
trusted  in  his  own  ability  to  soon  get  in  his  hands  the 
chief  share  of  the  work  of  the  supreme  council,  which 

370 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Petrobey  had  suggested,  and  with  the  most  diplomatic 
change  of  front,  he  proceeded  to  conciliate  Nicholas. 

*^My  dear  Nicholas,"  he  said,  "I  wish  with  all  my 
heart  you  had  a  place  in  the  synod  of  the  church.  As  a 
priest  you  would  have  soon  earned  one  ;  but  you  selected 
another  vocation,  in  which  I  need  give  no  testimony  to 
your  merits.  But  consider,  dear  Nicholas,  this  is  a 
national  movement,  and  the  church  is  a  great  national 
institution,  and  has  always  had  a  voice,  often  the  su- 
preme voice,  in  the  direction  of  national  affairs.  You 
must  not  think  we  want  to  interfere  in  military  matters  ; 
you  will  not  find  Charalambes,  for  instance,  or,  for  that 
matter,  me,  wishing  to  lead  a  sortie  or  direct  the  fire. 
In  England,  as  you  know,  there  are  two  great  legislative 
houses — one  composed  of  the  lords  of  the  land,  without 
initiative,  but  with  the  power  of  check ;  the  other,  the 
elected  body — the  voice  of  the  people.  You  generals  are 
the  elected  body,  on  you  the  initiative  depends ;  but  we 
primates  correspond  to  the  titular  power.  And  where 
can  you  find  so  splendid  and  august  a  government  as 
that  ?  See,  I  come  to  meet  you  half-way  ;  it  is  not  the 
time  now  to  talk  of  the  supremacy  of  the  church,  meet  me 
half-way,  and  allow  that  in  national  concerns  we  should 
not  be  without  a  voice.  There  are  two  powers  in  this 
new  Greece ;  if  they  are  in  accord,  the  danger  we  have 
spoken  of  melts  like  a  summer  mist.""* 

Nicholas  looked  across  at  Petrobey. 

^'You  would  have  me  follow?"  he  asked.  "Well,  I 
consent." 

Germanos  was  careful  not  to  betray  too  much  elation 
at  the  success  of  this  scheme,  and  he  soon  spoke  of  other 
things.  Prince  Demetrius  Ypsilanti,  whom  the  Hetairia, 
or  Club  of  Patriots  in  north  Greece,  had  chosen  to  take 
the  place  of  his  treacherous  and  inefficient  brother,  was 

371 


THE    VINTAGE 

shortly  to  come  to  the  Peloponnesus.  Hitherto  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  clnb  had  been  very  secret  and  their  funds 
intrusted  to  a  few  agents,  such  as  Nicholas  and  Ger- 
manos ;  but  the  rapid  success  of  the  war,  and  its  still 
more  brilliant  promise — for  in  north  Greece  as  well  it  had 
spread  like  fire — had  rendered  all  further  concealment 
unnecessary,  and  they  came  forward  now  as  the  authors 
of  the  liberty  of  Greece,  a  credit  which  was,  through  their 
admirable  agents,  due  them,  and  they  were  exercising 
their  undoubted  right  in  giving  the  command  to  whom- 
ever they  would.  Germanos  also  assured  Petrobey  and 
Nicholas  that  they  were  both  in  the  highest  favor  with 
the  club,  and  that  Prince  Demetrius  was  most  amica- 
bly and  warmly  inclined  to  them.  He  might  also  tell 
them  that  the  prince  had  no  intention  of  interfering  in 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  which  he  was  content  to  leave  in 
more  experienced  hands  ;  but  he  was  coming  as  the  head 
of  the  Hetairia,  which  had  organized  and  financed  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  and  he  was  sure,  so  thought  Ger- 
manos, to  approve  of  the  step  they  had  decided  on,  to 
appoint  a  national  senate,  and  no  doubt  he  would  take 
his  place  at  the  head  of  the  assembly. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE   KULE   OF  THE    SEN^ATE 

Fkom  this  conversation  among  the  three  sprang  into 
being  the  Peloponnesian  Senate,  than  which  no  more 
futile  apparatus  has  ever  been  devised  to  guide  the  affairs 
of  a  nation.  From  the  first  harmony  was  impossible  be- 
tween the  two  parties,  and  the  only  result  it  achieved 
worth  mentioning  was  that  it  diverted  the  time  and  en- 
ergies of  the  military  leaders  from  the  work  to  which 
every  muscle  should  have  been  strained — the  fall  of  Trip- 
oli. So  far  from  reconciling  the  divisions  among  the 
soldiers,  it  merely  encouraged  partisanship,  for  it  was 
known  that  the  senate  could  not  agree  on  any  point 
worth  the  deliberation.  Petrobey  was  more  than  once 
tempted  to  resign  his  seat,  but  to  do  that  was  only  to 
throw  the  wavering  balance  of  power  firmly  into  the 
hands  of  the  primates,  while  between  Nicholas  and  Ger- 
manos  there  ripened,  as  bitter  as  a  Dead-Sea  apple,  an 
enmity  only  to  be  reconciled  at  a  death -bed,  for  Ger- 
manos,  so  Nicholas  considered,  and  did  not  scruple  to 
say,  had  deceived  both  him  and  his  colleague.  He  had 
professed  the  highest,  most  altruistic  aims  ;  what  guided 
his  conduct  was  the  most  selfish  and  personal  policy. 
This,  it  is  to  be  feared,  was  partly  true,  though  not  en- 
tirely, for  Germanos  had  been  sincere  when  he  opened 
to  the  two  his  scheme  for  the  glory  of  the  church ;  but 
finding  supremacy,  like  the  fruit  of  Tantalus,  still  dang- 

373 


THE    VINTAGE 

ling  beyond,  but  seemingly  only  just  beyond,  his  reach, 
and  stung  intolerably  at  his  failure,  the  personal  motive 
crept  in,  and  before  long  usurped  the  place  of  the 
other. 

Nicholas  had  hoped  great  things  from  the  arrival  of 
the  prince  ;  but  they,  too,  were  doomed  to  be  disappoint- 
ed. He  was  given  an  enthusiastic  welcome  by  the  army, 
the  majority  of  whom  were  sickened  with  this  atmos- 
phere of  intrigue,  and  Petrobey  instantly  took  his  i^lace 
as  his  subordinate ;  but  the  prince  gave  him  to  under- 
stand that  it  was  his  wish  that  the  conduct  of  the  siege 
should  continue  in  the  same  hands.  Germanos,  too, 
welcomed  him  cordially,  with  a  due  recognition  of  his 
position,  for  he  hoped  to  win  him  over  to  the  side  of  the 
church.  For  the  time  it  seemed  that  some  solution  of 
their  difficulties  was  imminent,  and  in  the  hands  of  a 
stronger  man,  no  doubt,  such  universally  recognized 
authority  would  have  found  a  means  of  reconciliation. 

But  Prince  Demetrius  was  terribly  unfitted  for  the 
responsibility.  His  principles  were  honorable,  but  by 
nature  he  was  weak  and  undecided.  He  inclined  first 
to  one  party,  then  to  another,  with  no  diplomatic  yield- 
ing, which  will  give  an  inch  to  gain  a  yard,  but  with 
the  pitiful  futility  of  one  who  has  no  knowledge  of  men, 
no  habit  of  command,  and  no  certainty  of  himself.  To 
the  soldiers  this  weakness  manifested  itself  openly,  and 
unhappily  not  erroneously,  in  his  personal  appearance. 
He  was  under  middle  height;  his  manner,  always  stiff 
and  awkward,  was  sometimes  insolent,  sometimes  timid 
— an  unfortunate  demeanor,  for  he  was  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other,  but  only  excessively  self-conscious  and 
shy.  His  face  was  thin  and  pinched,  and  his  hair,  al- 
though he  was  only  thirty -two,  was  already  gray  and 
scanty,  giving  him  a  look  of  premature  old  age.     Being 

374 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

short-sighted,  he  blinked  and  peered,  as  Mitsos  said,  like 
a  noonday  owl,  and  his  voice  was  querulous  and  high- 
pitched.  Yet  he  was  of  an  upright  mind,  indifferent 
to  danger,  and  free  from  the  besetting  sin  of  his  race, 
avarice.  All  these  outward  defects  corresponded  but 
too  well  with  the  inadequacy  of  his  nature ;  a  strong 
man  with  not  so  honorable  a  heart  as  he  had  might  easily 
have  filled  his  post  better,  and  the  uprightness  of  his 
character,  at  a  crisis  where  uprightness  was  the  quality 
wanted,  could  not  make  itself  fejt,  but  which  to  the 
army  and  the  council  was  but  the  bubbling  that  came 
from  a  man  half  drowned,  when  what  was  wanted  was 
a  firm  voice  and  a  loud  and  no  drowning  cry.  More- 
over, he  was  morbidly  sensitive  about  his  own  dignity 
and  position,  and  there  was  something  comically  trag- 
ical to  see  that  puny  frame  with  bent  shoulders  presid- 
ing over  a  company  of  strong  men,  and  hear  that  little 
screechy  voice  prating  of  ^' My  wish"  and  ^'My  com- 
mand." On  one  side  of  him  sat  Germanos,  courtier-like 
and  full  of  deference,  plying  him  with  his  titles,  as  the 
nurse  gives  suck  to  a  baby,  while  the  prince,  drinking 
like  a  child,  would  be  well  pleased,  and  pipe,  ''^What 
you  say  is  very  true.  It  is  my  wish  that  the  church 
should  be  fully  recognized.  Yes,  quite  so,  my  dear  arch- 
bishop ;  but  I  think  our  friend,  the  gallant  commander 
of  this  army,  of  which  I,  as  the  commander-in-chief,  as 
the  viceroy  by  the  wish  of  the  Hetairia — yes,  exactly — 
has  something  to  say  on  the  subject." 

Then  Petrobey  would  lay  before  the  prince  the  urgent 
need  of  doing  one  thing  before  all  others.  Tripoli  must 
be  taken ;  surely  the  claims  of  the  two  parties  could 
be  settled  afterwards.  That  was  the  work  most  im- 
portant to  them.  For  three  weeks  now  since  the  begin- 
ning of  June  had  they  waited  at  Trikorpha,  and  the 

375 


THE    VINTAGE 

provisions  of  the  army  were  already  beginning  to  be  ex- 
hausted. The  herds  were  being  thinned,  the  lower 
pasture  was  drying  up  in  the  summer  heat.  Must  not 
steps  be  taken  here  at  once  ?  And  Prince  Demetrius 
would  answer  something  in  this  manner  : 

''  What  you  say  is  very  true,  my  dear  Petrobey,  and  I 
quite  agree  with  you  that  there  is  no  time  to  be  lost. 
Would  you  not  form  a  committee  and  deliberate  what  is 
to  be  done,  and  then  submit  your  results  to  me  to  receive 
my  sanction  ?  You  ^poke,  I  remember,  about  the  for- 
mation of  some  cavalry  corps  ;  a  very  wise  plan  I  thought 
it,  and  I  meant  to  have  some  talk  with  you  about  it. 
But  really  the  days  have  slipped  by  so.  Yes,  we  must, 
indeed,  be  up  and  doing,  and  my  orderly  has  just  in- 
formed me,  gentlemen,  that  dinner  is  ready  ;  and  I  shall 
be  pleased  to  see  you,  my  dear  archbishop,  and  you, 
commander,  at  my  table.  Dinner  will  be  served  im- 
mediately, and  our  deliberations,  gentlemen,  in  which  I 
think  we  may  say  we  have  made  some  solid  progress,  will 
be  adjourned  till  to-morrow  at  the  usual  hour." 

Nicholas  saw  that  there  was  no  help  here,  and  he  set 
himself  to  thwart;  Germanos  with  all  his  power.  He 
considered  that  the  presence  of  the  primates  in  the  camp 
rendered  the  army  powerless,  for  it  was  eaten  up  with 
intrigue,  slander,  and  incessant  accusation,  provoking 
counter  -  accusation.  At  the  meetings  of  the  senate  he 
opposed  Germanos  on  every^  point,  whether  or  no  his 
suggestions  were  honorable  or  expedient,  and  allying 
himself  with  any  one  who  would  join  him  in  upholding 
the  army  against  the  church,  ranged  himself  side  by  side 
with  crooked  and  unscrupulous  men  like  Poniropoulos 
and  Anagnostes,  mere  brigands  and  adventurers,  who, 
without  any  motive  but  their  own  greed,  had  got  to- 
gether a  band  of  peasants,  and  were  in  command  of  a 

376 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

mere  disorderly  rabble ;  men  who  in  his  soberer  mo- 
ments he  knew  were  as  detestable  as,  in  his  furious 
anger  against  Germanos,  he  thought  the  primate  to  be. 
Every  day  the  meetings  of  the  senate  grew  more  and 
more  disorderly,  and  gradually  Prince  Demetrius  saw 
that  he  was  no  more  than  a  cypher  in  the  eyes  of  these 
men.  Of  personal  ambition  Nicholas  had  none ;  honestly 
and  with  his  whole  heart  he  cared  for  nothing  but  the  suc- 
cess of  the  revolution  and  the  extermination  of  the  Turk, 
and  he  used  his  great  power  and  influence  for  the  defeat 
of  the  intriguing  primates,  being  convinced  that  till  the 
question  between  the  two  parties  was  settled  nothing 
could  be  done.  At  any  rate,  he  was  free  from  all  stings 
of  conscience ;  his  conduct  might  be  unwise,  but  he 
acted  from  impeccable  motives,  and  there  was  enough 
truth  in  his  allegations  against  Germanos  to  give  them  a 
sting  that  was  wellnigh  unforgivable. 

It  was  already  more  than  half-way  through  June,  and 
still  the  army  remained  inactive.  Petrobey  had  so  far 
succeeded  in  rousing  the  prince  as  to  permit  him  to 
make  arrangements  for  regular  supplies  being  sent  to  the 
camp  ;  but  there  was  still  no  talk  of  an  assault  on  Tripoli, 
or  indeed  any  preparations  for  ensuring  its  success.  The 
senate  had  met  as  usual  that  morning,  and  the  meeting 
had  degenerated  into  a  fierce  brawl  between  Anagnostes 
and  Nicholas  on  the  one  side,  and  Germanos  and  Chara- 
lambes  on  the  other.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  prince 
tried  to  restore  order  ;  they  listened  to  him  no  more  than 
to  a  buzzing  fly,  when  at  length  Germanos,  bitten  to  the 
quick  by  some  intolerable  taunt  of  Nicholas's,  rose  from 
the  table,  saying  he  would  take  no  further  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  senate. 

"  There  must  be  an  end,"  he  said,  ''to  this.  How  long 
ago  is  it,  Nicholas,  since  you  swore  allegiance  to  me?" 

377 


THE    VINTAGE 

'^  Allegiance  in  all  things  in  your  jurisdiction,"  replied 
Nicholas,  "  and  to  the  glory  of  God,  not  to  the  glory  of 
Germanos." 

The  heat  of  his  anger  did  not  excuse  the  words,  and 
the  moment  afterwards  every  better  feeling  within  him 
would  have  had  them  unsaid,  but  Anagnostes,  sitting  at 
his  elbow,  applauded  vehemently. 

''  Silence,  you  there,"  said  Germanos,  in  a  white  anger. 
''^  You  will  hear  my  voice  no  more  here  ;  but  let  me  tell 
you,  you  are  not  rid  of  me.  We  will  see  what  the  people 
say  to  such  treatment  as  that  I  have  been  subjected  to." 

"Go  to  the  people,"  shouted  Nicholas ;  "see  how  the 
Mainats  receive  you!" 

"  The  Mainats  ?"  said  Germanos  ;  "  the  Mainats,  whom 
I  hold  a  degree  only  above  the  Turks  ?" 

"  My  dear  archbishop — my  dear  archbishop,"  piped  the 
prince. 

"  But  there  are  true  and  loyal  men  in  Greece  besides 
those  hounds,"  continued  Germanos,  not  even  hearing 
the  prince  speak. 

"Archbishop,"  said  the  prince  again,  with  a  certain 
dignity,  "I  command  you,  I  order  you,  to  be  silent." 

Germanos  turned  round  on  him,  still  mad  with  rage. 

"  You  order,  you  command  ?"  he  said,  with  infinite 
scorn,  and  broke  into  a  sudden,  unnatural  laugh. 

Prince  Demetrius  flushed,  and  on  all  the  senate  fell  a 
dead  hush.  For  once  the  man  showed  the  dignity  of 
birth  and  breeding,  and  standing  up,  he  faced  the  angry 
prelate.  His  nervous,  weak  manner  had  left  him ;  he 
rose  to  the  occasion. 

"  You  will  please  to  take  your  seat,  archbishop,"  he 
said.     "I  have  a  few  words  to  say." 

Germanos  looked  round  and  saw  on  all  sides  eager, 
attentive  faces  bent,  not  on  him,  but  on  the  prince. 

378 


THE  TEEADINO  OF  THE  GRAPES 

His  anger  still  burned  like  fire  within  him,  and  he  paused 
not  to  consider. 

'^I  perfer  to  leave  the  room/'  he  said.  *'I  take  no 
further  part  in  these  proceedings." 

'^  You  choose  to  disregard  my  request/'  said  the  prince, 
and  with  that  his  voice  rose  sudden  and  screaming  and 
fierce  ;  "I  will  therefore  order —     Sit  down!"  he  cried. 

Germanos's  anger  went  out  as  suddenly  as  lightning  at 
night  is  followed  by  darkness,  and  he  realized  what  he 
had  done.  The  prince's  favor  he  had  forfeited  hope- 
lessly, and  though  the  prince  was  nothing,  he  had  for- 
gotten in  the  man's  insignificance  the  power  he  repre- 
sented. Henceforth  he  would  have  to  fight  without  the 
expectancy  of  help  from  there  ;  and  feeling  his  schemes 
already  threatening  to  totter  and  fall  about  his  head,  in 
sheer  blank  bewilderment  he  sat  down. 

The  prince  stood  silent  a  moment  and  then  spoke. 

'^I  feel,"  he  said,  ^^that  all  the  good  I  hoped  to  do, 
and  all  the  efforts  I  wished  to  make  for  the  great  cause, 
are  not  to  be  fulfilled.  With  the  exception  of  the  com- 
mander of  this  army,  the  senate  generally  have  chosen  to 
disregard  my  presence  here.  From  Petrobey,  however, 
I  have  always  had  courtesy  and  respect.  The  party  of 
the  church,  in  particular,  has  chosen  to  adopt  an  in- 
solent demeanor  towards  me,  the  like  of  which  I  accept 
from  no  man.  You  have  seen,  gentlemen,  the  example 
their  head  has  given  them.  I  regret  the  decision  which 
I  have  long  thought  was  possible,  but  which  has  been 
forced  upon  me.  Gentlemen,  I  leave  the  camp  to-day. 
The  meeting  is  adjourned." 

Then  turning  to  Petrobey,  and  bowing  to  the  rest : 

*' Come  with  me,"  he  said  ;  "we  will  leave  this  assem- 
bly together,"  and  taking  his  arm,  he  left  the  room. 

Half  an  hour  later  he  quitted  the  camp  with  a  small 
879 


THE    VINTAGE 

guard,  leaving  the  rest  of  his  retinue  to  follow  as  quickly 
as  they  could  get  ready.  But  the  news  of  his  departure 
and  the  reason  for  it  spread  like  wildfire  through  Tri- 
korpha,  and  the  men,  who  still  regarded  him,  partly  be- 
cause of  the  marked  favor  he  showed  to  Petrobey,  partly 
from  the  prestige  of  the  revolutionary  Hetairia  which  he 
represented,  as  their  champion,  were  wildly  indignant 
with  the  primates.  A  riot  nearly  ensued,  and  had  not 
Petrobey  and  other  commanders,  notably  Nicholas  him- 
self, had  them  guarded  in  a  place  of  safety,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  some  would  have  been  murdered.  Ger- 
manos,  however,  who,  whatever  his  faults  were,  was 
perfectly  fearless,  refused  all  protection,  and  when  one 
of  the  Mainats  passing  near  him,  spit  at  him,  the  arch- 
bishop dealt  the  man  a  blow  which  knocked  him  off  his 
feet,  and  passed  on  without  hurry  or  discomposure, 
though  he  was  in  the  middle  of  the  clan.  But  the 
Mainats,  who  were  without  a  particle  of  reverence  for 
him,  but  had  a  deep  respect  for  personal  pluck,  appreci- 
ated the  act  fully  and  made  no  attempt  to  stop  him, 
though  a  minute  before  it  was  very  doubtful  whether  he 
would  have  reached  his  quarters  alive. 

All  day  the  feeling  in  the  camp  against  the  primates 
rose  higher  and  higher,  for,  from  the  soldiers'  point  of 
view,  the  prince  was  their  protector  not  only  against  them, 
but  their  own  commanders,  who,  as  the  primates  had 
told  them,  rousing  suspicion  if  not  belief  in  their  minds, 
were  employed  in  making  private  arrangements  with  the 
Turks,  promising  them  their  lives  in  exchange  for  their 
property.  No  one,  it  is  true,  had  breathed  a  suspicion 
about  either  Petrobey  or  Nicholas,  for  they  stood  beyond 
any  shadow  of  scandal,  and  for  the  time  the  ugly  thoughts 
the  primates  had  suggested  were  cast  aside  in  the  fierce 
indignation  excited  by  the  immediate  cause  of  the  with- 

380 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

drawal  of  the  prince,  for  which  the  primates  alone  were 
to  be  thanked.  A  knot  of  angry  men  assembled  outside 
the  building  where  primates  and  muskets  were  stored, 
demanding  that  they  should  be  given  up  to  be  dealt  with 
as  they  deserved ;  and,  indeed,  such  a  fate  was  not  un- 
merited, and  it  would  have  saved  a  world  of  trouble  to 
Petrobey.  For  they  were  responsible  for  all  this  doubt 
and  division  ;  they  were  traitors  in  the  camp,  and  in  time 
of  war  a  traitor  is  worse  than  a  regiment  of  foes.  Next 
day  there  was  no  abatement  of  popular  feeling,  and  in 
the  afternoon  the  whole  body  of  commanders  and  cap- 
tains went  to  Petrobey,  after  exacting  a  promise  from 
their  men  of  quietude  in  their  absence,  asking  that  the 
prince  might  be  petitioned  to  return,  for  his  absence 
could  but  end  in  one  thing,  the  death  of  all  the  primates, 
either  with  the  authority  of  the  commanders,  or,  in  de- 
fault of  that,  by  mutiny. 

Petrobey  readily  consented  to  go  in  person,  for  things 
were  at  an  absolute  impasse,  and  without  the  princess 
co-operation  and  presence  he  was  really  afraid  that  the 
worst  might  happen,  and  in  the  name  of  the  entire  army, 
and  with  the  earnest  appeals  of  the  primates,  he  waited 
upon  him  at  Leondari,  a  revolted  town  not  far  from  Me- 
galopolis. The  prince  at  first  hesitated,  or  seemed  to 
hesitate,  but  privately  he  was  very  much  gratified  at 
what  seemed  so  universal  a  mark  of  confidence  ;  for  on 
thinking  his  action  over,  it  had  appeared  to  him  that  he 
must  cut  but  a  sorry  figure  if  he  returned  to  the  Hetairia, 
saying  that  the  army  disregarded  his  authority  and  met 
his  commands  with  insolence,  while  if  he  came  back,  his 
withdrawal  assumed  the  aspect  of  a  most  successful  piece 
of  diplomacy.  Accordingly,  at  the  end  of  the  week  he 
returned  amid  the  welcoming  acclamations  of  the  army, 
and  was  pleased  to  accept — having  insisted  on  the  same — 

381 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  apology  of  G-ermanos,  which  was  bitter  herbs  to  that 
proud  man,  but  to  Nicholas  as  sweet  as  honey  in  the 
mouth. 

Throughout  July,  but  waning  with  the  moon,  con- 
tinued the  reign  of  that  incompetent,  but  honest  man. 
Prince  Demetrius.  His  indecision  amounted  to  a  dis- 
ease of  the  mind ;  he  seemed  morally  incapable  of  acting, 
or,  through  his  pretentious  viceregal  claims,  of  letting 
others  act^  for  him  ;  a  creature  afflicted  with  acute  paraly- 
sis of  will.  Inside  Tripoli  there  was  still  no  famine  of 
food  or  water,  and  though  Achmet  Bey  saw  that  escape 
was  impossible,  for  the  weakness  of  the  troops  inside 
would  have  rendered  an  attempt  to  cut  through  the  oc- 
cupations on  the  hills  quite  hopeless,  yet  he  was  in  no 
mind  to  surrender  when  no  attempts  were  made  to  induce 
him  to  do  so.  There  were  provisions  in  the  camp  which 
would  last  three  months  more,  for  the  harvest  had  been 
got  in  before  the  occupation  of  Valtetzi ;  the  ravages 
of  the  Greeks  had  destroyed  only  the  villages  and  the 
winter  crops,  and  Mehemet  Salik  remarked  one  morning 
that  one  seemed  safer  in  Tripoli  than  anywhere  else. 

And  the  hot  month  throbbed  by,  while  to  the  Greeks 
every  day's  close  saw  another  day  lost. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE   SON^G   FROM   TRIPOLI 

Early  in  August  news  came  to  the  camp  that  the 
Turks  in  Monemvasia  had  made  a  proposal  for  a  capitu- 
lation, for  it  will  be  remembered  that  a  small  fleet  of 
vessels  from  Spetzas  was  blockading  it  by  sea,  in  addition 
to  a  regiment  from  south  Greece  by  land,  and  these  tid- 
ings gave  Prince  Demetrius  a  most  ill  -  conceived  idea. 
The  terms  of  the  capitulation  were  discussed  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  senate,  and  caused  a  very  considerable  differ- 
ence of  opinion,  Nicholas  and  Petrobey  advising  that 
the  Turks  should  be  given  a  passage  over  to  Smyrna,  or 
some  Asia  Minor  port,  on  condition  that  they  surren- 
dered their  arms,  refunded  the  expenses  of  the  siege — 
for  the  soldiers  had  been  serving  without  pay — and  fur- 
ther, gave  an  indemnity  of  ten  thousand  Turkish  pounds, 
which  should  be  divided  among  the  fleet,  the  army,  and 
the  national  treasury.  Germanos  and  his  party  opposed 
this.  Monemvasia  was  notably  one  of  the  wealthiest 
towns  in  the  Peloponnesus,  and  he  proposed  that  the  be- 
sieged should  only  be  given  their  lives  on  the  surrender 
of  all  their  property.  Prince  Demetrius  went  to  the 
other  extreme.  The  Hetairia  would  charge  itself  with 
the  arrears  of  the  soldiers'  pay,  since  it  was  for  that  very 
purpose  its  funds  had  been  raised  ;  to  the  soldiers  was 
due  their  pay  and  nothing  more,  and  if  easy  terms  were 
granted  to  Monemvasia,  the  Turks  in  Tripoli  would  be 


THE    VINTAGE 

more  disposed  to  capitulate.  The  discussion  degenerated 
into  wrangling,  but  in  the  middle  of  it  Prince  Deme- 
trius suddenly  commanded  silence.  Since  the  affair 
with  Germanos,  he  had  secured  the  formalities  of  obe- 
dience, and  he  was  listened  to  in  silence. 

'*I  shall  go  to  Monemvasia  in  person/Mie  said,  "to 
receive  and  to  accept  the  capitulation  of  the  town  as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and  viceroy,  appoint- 
ed by  the  supreme  council  of  the  Hetairia.  The  troops 
there,  so  I  hear,  are  out  of  hand,  and  the  Mainat  corps 
under  their  commander,  Petrobey,  will  accompany  me. 
We  will  continue  to  discuss  the  terms  of  the  capitula- 
tion, and  observe  a  little  more  decorum." 

But  the  senate  had  experienced  his  deficiency  in  power 
of  command  too  long,  and  his  words  Avere  like  the  words 
coming  from  the  mouth  of  a  mask,  when  every  one  knew 
how  insignificant  a  figure  stood  behind  it.  The  auto- 
cratic tone  was  ludicrous,  and  in  this  particular  case 
peculiarly  out  of  place.  Petrobey,  who,  when  it  was  pos- 
sible, supported  the  prince,  now  found  himself  obliged 
to  oppose  him,  and,  with  a  courtesy  he  found  it  hard  to 
assume,  spoke  in  answer  : 

"Your  highness  will  remember,"  he  said,  "that  the 
siege  has  been  going  on  for  three  months,  and  has  been 
entirely  the  work  of  the  people.  The  Hetairia  has  not 
helped  them  in  any  way.  It  is  surely,  then,  their  right 
to  demand  their  own  terms,  and  the  surrender  must  be 
made  to  the  captains  of  the  blockading  forces,  or  to 
whomever  they  appoint,  and  to  no  other." 

The  prince  flushed  angrily. 

"  Do  I  understand,  then,  that  I  am  not  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  whole  army  ?" 

"Your  highness  is  commander-in-chief  over  all  the 
army  which  has  been  organized  or  supplied  by  the  He- 

384 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

tairists  or  their  agents.  The  force  that  blockades  Monem- 
vasia  was  raised  by  private  enterprise  before  your  ap- 
pointment by  the  Hetairia,  and  during  your  stay  in  the 
Morea  you  have  not  either  taken  the  command  there  or 
assisted  that  force.  The  commander  of  the  land  force 
there  is  a  member  of  this  senate,  and  no  doubt  he  will 
obey  its  resolves." 

'*  Sooner  than  that  of  the  viceroy  ?" 

"The  viceroy  also  is  a  member  of  this  senate/'  said 
Petrobey,  with  some  adroitness. 

The  prince  was  silent  a  moment. 

"  The  senate  will,  therefore,  vote  as  to  whether  Mo- 
nemvasia  is  to  be  occupied  in  the  name  of  the  senate  or 
in  my  name,"  he  said,  shortly. 

For  once  there  was  unanimity  between  the  two  par- 
ties, and  it  was  decided  that  Monemvasia  was  to  be  occu- 
pied in  the  name  of  the  senate.  The  discussions  about 
the  terms  of  the  capitulation  were  then  renewed,  but  as  it 
was  felt  that  the  commander  of  the  blockading  force  had 
more  voice  in  the  matter  than  any  one  else,  Germanos, 
with  the  amiable  desire  of  perhaps  thwarting  Nicholas, 
whose  proposal  had  been  more  moderate  than  his  own, 
suggested  that  this  point  should  be  settled  between  the 
commander  and  the  prince  upon  the  arrival  there  of  the 
latter,  for  it  was  absurd  that  commanders  of  a  force  which 
was  besieging  Tripoli  should  have  a  voice  in  the  matter. 
Nicholas,  knowing  that  Petrobey  would  be  there  too,  and 
that  he  had  more  influence  with  the  prince  than  any  one, 
acquiesced  with  a  smile,  saying  that  Germanos's  sage  re- 
flection applied  equally  to  primates  who  were  not  in  com- 
mand of  anything. 

So  for  a  time  the  centre  of  the  war,  like  some  slow- 
moving  stream,  shifted  to  Monemvasia,  and  during  the 
whole  of  August  half  the  army  lay  idle  on  the  hills 
2  b  385 


THE    VINTAGE 

round  Tripoli ;  and  with  the  departure  of  the  prince  the 
tales  of  scandalous  slander  were  again  taken  up  by  the 
primates,  the  result  of  which  was  to  appear  later.  Germa- 
nos,  though  he  must  have  known  what  was  going  on,  held 
aloof,  and  did  not  mix  up  in  the  affairs  of  the  camp ; 
though,  to  his  shame  be  it  said,  he  appeared  to  make  no 
effort  to  check  the  outrageous  intrigues. 

To  Nicholas,  however,  the  month  was  full  of  work,  and 
he  at  once  put  in  hand  arrangements  for  the  regular 
supplies  of  the  camp,  and  was  occupied  with  drilling 
the  men;  under  his  wise  yet  severe  rule  the  unorgan- 
ized troops  began  slowly  to  take  shape,  and  his  example 
shamed  many  of  the  other  idle  and  irresponsible  captains 
into  following  his  lead,  though,  having  little  knowledge 
of  military  matters  themselves,  it  must  be  concluded  that 
their  men  were  not  able  to  advance  to  a  high  degree  of 
efficiency.  Meantime,  among  the  men  themselves  the 
utter  inability  of  the  prince  either  to  check  abuses  or  to 
enforce  discipline  had  become  apparent,  and  from  the 
time  of  his  departure  for  Monemvasia  his  power  may  be 
said  to  have  ceased  altogether.  And  when  the  news  of 
what  had  taken  place  at  that  town  came  to  hand,  from 
being  nothing  he  became  ridiculous. 

The  nightly  raids  ceased,  for  all  the  cultivated  land 
round  Tripoli  was  already  devastated,  and  neither  in  the 
town  nor  in  the  camp  was  any  particular  vigilance  ob- 
served. The  Turks  knew  it  was  hopeless  to  attack  Tri- 
korpha ;  till  the  return  of  Petrobey  the'  Greeks  had  no 
thought  of  attempting  to  storm  the  town ;  and  Mitsos, 
brooding  inwardly  one  night  on  the  rough  wall  where  he 
and  Yanni  used  often  to  sit,  had  an  idea  which  arose 
from  this  inaction. 

For  several  weeks  after  the  adventure  of  the  fire-ship 
his  anxieties  about  Suleima  had  been  stilled,  for  that 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

escape  seemed  to  him  so  heaven  -  sent  that  with  child- 
like faith  he  had  no  manner  of  doubt  but  that  the  saints 
watched  over  her,  and  though  at  times  his  heart  went 
a-mourning  for  her  absence,  yet  he  trusted  an  unreason- 
ing conviction  that  at  the  time  appointed  he  would  see 
her  again.  The  strong  probability  that  she  was  in  this 
beleaguered  town  did  not  at  first  weigh  on  him  at  all. 
Some  day,  when  provisions  ran  short,  it  would  capitu- 
late, and  there  would  be  a  repetition  of  the  scene  at  Ka- 
lamata  ;  or  they  would  storm  it,  and  there  would  be  fight- 
ing inside.  But  the  women  would  all  be  in  the  houses, 
and  even  if  the  houses  were  attacked  she  would  remem- 
ber what  he  had  told  her,  and  cry  out  to  them  in  Greek, 
saying  she  was  of  their  blood,  and  all  would  be  well.  But 
when  the  excitement  of  the  skirmish  at  Valtetzi,  now 
nearly  two  months  ago,  and  the  move  to  Trikorpha,  with 
all  the  delightful  night-raiding,  was  over,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  an  inaction  sickened  by  the  odious  intrigues  of 
the  primates,  he  began  to  weary  sore  for  her,  and  then  to 
be  filled  with  panic  fears  as  unfounded  as  his  first  secur- 
ity. Safety  in  a  siege,  there  was  no  such  thing!  A 
chance  bullet,  an  angry  Greek,  and  a  repetition  of  that 
infernal  butchery  of  women  and  children  on  board  the 
ship  bound  for  Egypt.  What  was  more  horribly  possible  ? 
A  burning  house,  a  falling  wall,  and  then  a  mass  of  pulped 
bodies. 

On  this  particular  night  his  fears  grew  like  the  mon- 
strous visions  of  some  hag-ridden  nightmare.  A  hun- 
dred terrible  scenes  loomed  enormous  before  him,  and  in 
each  Suleima,  with  white,  imploring  face,  was  struck  out 
of  life,  now  by  a  bullet,  now  by  a  sword.  Below,  in  the 
part  of  the  town  nearest  him,  where  five  or  six  big  houses 
were  built  on  the  wall,  there  gleamed  rows  of  lights  from 
narrow  -  barred  windows,  and  from  each  Suleimans  face 

387 


THE    VINTAGE 

looked  out  from  a  room  burning  within,  while  she  shook 
the  iron  bars  with  impotent  hands  as  the  flames  flickered 
and  rose  behind  her. 

The  thing  became  intolerable ;  he  rose  and  walked 
about,  but  found  no  rest.  Thirty  yards  away  the  soldiers' 
huts  began,  and  he  could  hear  sounds  of  singing  from  the 
big  shanty-built  cafe  a  little  farther  on.  The  sentry  had 
just  been  on  his  rounds,  and  Mitsos  exchanged  a  word  or 
two  with  him  as  he  passed,  and  he  would  be  back  again 
in  half  an  hour.  The  wall  inside  was  only  six  feet  high, 
outside  perhaps  ten  or  twelve,  but  with  plenty  of  hand- 
hold for  an  agile  lad,  and  the  next  moment,  without 
thinking  where  or  why  he  went,  he  had  clambered  up 
and  dropped  down  on  the  other  side. 

Did  he  not  know  where  he  was  going  ?  Ah,  but  his 
heart  told  him.  Somewhere  in  that  fiery-eyed  town,  into 
which  entrance  was  impossible,  was  she  for  whom  he  was 
made,  she  with  the  eyes  of  night  and  the  history  of  his 
soul  written  on  the  curves  of  her  lips.  And  inasmuch 
as  she  was  there,  the  rekindled  fever  of  his  love  drew  him 
thither,  neither  willing  nor  unwilling,  but  steel  to  the 
magnet,  a  moth  to  the  star.  He  had  taken  off  his  shoes 
in  order  to  get  a  better  grip  in  the  crevices  of  the  wall, 
and  went  down  barefooted  over  the  basalt  rocks  all  ashine 
with  dew.  The  moon  had  strayed  westward  beyond  the 
zenith,  casting  his  shadow  a  little  in  front  of  him,  and 
round  his  head  as  he  walked  moved  an  opaline  halo. 
Then  he  crossed  the  mountain  stream  and  stood  in  it  for 
a  moment,  for  the  coldness  of  the  moon  and  the  eternal 
youth  of  night  had  entered  into  its  waters,  making  them 
vigorous  and  bracing.  A  little  wind  drawing  down  its 
course  was  full  of  the  scent  of  water  and  green  things, 
and  streamed  out  to  renovate  the  hot  air  of  the  plain. 
Then  on  again  through  a  little  belt   of  vineyard,  still 

,388 


THE    TREADING    OF    THE    GRAPES 

close  to  the  camp  and  not  destroyed,  where  the  stream 
talked  less  noisily  in  the  soft  earth,  with  a  whiff  of  sum- 
mer from  the  ripening  bunches,  and  the  scuttle  of  some 
disturbed  hare  come  down  to  feed  on  the  leaves.  Then 
he  crossed  the  stream  again,  which  lay  in  an  elbow  south- 
ward, and,  pushing  through  a  clump  of  oleanders  which 
rose  above  his  head,  came  out  into  the  plain.  The  earth 
was  warm  under  foot  after  the  cold  rocks,  and  he  ran 
plunging  across  it,  till,  getting  within  a  stone's-throw  of 
the  wall,  he  crept  more  slowly,  and  finally  lay  down  in 
the  shadow  of  a  felled  olive-tree,  and  looked  to  see  if 
there  was  aught  stirring. 

The  battlemented  line  of  the  wall  opposite  to  him 
stood  up  clear-cut  between  the  moon  and  the  lights  of 
the  town,  twenty  feet  above  him,  and  ran  on  southward 
into  vague  shadow,  untenanted.  Fifty  yards  to  the  left 
it  was  interrupted,  or  rather  crowned,  by  half  a  dozen 
big  houses,  built  flush  with  the  wall,  pierced  by  several 
rows  of  rather  narrow  windows,  the  lower  of  which  were 
barred,  the  upper,  from  their  height,  needing  no  such 
defence.  As  he  crept  up  alongside  of  these  he  heard  the 
subdued  murmur  of  women's  voices  from  within  the  first 
house — the  home,  perhaps,  of  some  Turkish  captain  and 
his  harem  ;  and  the  sound  of  women's  voices  made  mirth 
to  him,  and  he  listened  for  a  while,  smiling  to  himself. 
From  the  next  house  came  more  such  music,  and  once  a 
woman  walked  to  the  window  and  stood  looking  out  for 
a  minute,  or  perhaps  two,  unveiled  and  playing  with  the 
tassel  of  the  blind-cord,  till  from  within  some  one  called 
her  by  a  purring  Turkish  name,  and  she  turned  into  the 
house  again. 

He  crept  slowly  on  to  the  end  of  the  line  of  houses, 
where  the  battlemented  wall  began  again,  and  feeling 
closer  to  Suleima  in  the  sound  of  women's  voices,  came 

389 


THE    VINTAGE 

back  and  lay  down  again  in  the  shadow  of  a  tall  toothed 
rock.  It  was  something  to  be  alone,  away  from  the 
jarring  camp,  and  to  be  nearer  to  her.  His  portentous 
nightmare  beset  him  no  longer,  and  his  anxieties  again 
were  charmed  to  sleep.  One  by  one  the  lights  went  out 
in  the  windows  opposite,  and  the  houses  became  black- 
ness ;  the  shadow  of  the  rock  moved  a  little  forward  in 
the  setting  moon,  and  he  shifted  to  be  in  the  shade 
again.  Another  half -hour  went  by,  and  the  mountain 
ridge  hid  the  moon. 

Presently  afterwards  a  man  appeared  on  the  top  of 
the  wall  to  the  right.  Mitsos,  perhaps,  would  not  have 
noticed  him  but  that  he  waved  some  white  linen  thing 
up  and  down  once  or  twice,  and  then  waited  again,  and 
after  a  time  uttered  some  impatient  exclamation.  Mitsos 
watched  him,  puzzled  to  know  what  this  should  mean, 
when  suddenly  a  possible  solution  dawned  upon  him, 
and  he  crept  up,  still  in  the  shadow,  to  below  where  the 
Turk  was  standing,  and  whistled  softly. 

Then  a  voice  from  above  said : 

''  You  are  late.  Here  is  the  paper  signed,"  and  a  white 
thing  fluttered  down.  This  done,  the  Turk  turned,  and, 
without  waiting  for  a  reply, went  southward  down  the  wall. 

The  paper,  whatever  it  was,  was  in  Mitsos'  possession, 
and  putting  it  in  his  pocket,  for  it  was  too  dark  to  read 
it,  he  crept  back  to  his  old  place  to  wait  a  few  minutes 
more  there  before  going  back  to  the  camp.  Lights 
showed  only  in  one  house  now,  and  before  long  they,  too, 
were  quenched,  and  the  black  mass  of  flat  roofs  rose 
against  the  sky  silent  and  asleep.  Then  suddenly  and 
softly  from  out  that  blackness,  like  a  bird  flying  in  the 
desert,  came  the  sound  of  a  voice  singing,  and  at  those 
notes  Mitsos  thought  his  heart  would  have  burst.  For 
it  sang : 

390 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

"Dig  we  deep  among  the  vines, 

Give  the  sweet  spring  showers  a  home, 
Else  .the  fairest  sun  that  shines"— 

It  stopped  as  suddenly,  dying  like  a.  sigh,  and  looking 
up  he  saw  framed  in  one  of  the  dark  windows  the  upper 
part  of  a  girFs  figure  dressed  in  white.  And  without  a 
pause  the  boy's  voice  answered  : 

"Lends  no  lustre  to  our  wines, 
Sends  no  sparkle  to  the  foam." 

The  prattle  of  the  stream  above  alone  whispered  in  the 
stillness.     Then  a  voice  softly  asked  : 

''  Mitsos  r 

"  I  am  here ;  and  oh,  dearest  one,  is  it  you  ?" 

A  little  tinkle  of  laughter  rippled  from  above,  ending 
in  a  sudden,  quick-drawn  breath. 

"  At  last  I  see  you  again,"  she  said,  softly,  "  but  I 
don't  see  you  at  all.  Mitsos,  little  Mitsos,  is  it  well  with 
you  r 

Mitsos  crept  silently  out  of  the  shadow  and  stretched 
out  his  arms  to  her.  "It  is  well  in  all  but  the  great 
thing — that  we  are  not  together.  But  that  will  be  soon, 
dearest;  oh,  please  God  !  it  will  be  soon." 

Suleima  leaned  forward  from  the  window. 

"You  must  not  wait  here,  nor  must  I ;  I  am  at  a  pas- 
sage window,  and  though  the  house  is  dark,  one  never 
knows.  So  go,  beloved,  beloved,  beloved,  and  I  shall 
not  be  waiting  long,  shall  I  ?  And,  Mitsos,  there  will 
soon  be  .  .  .  soon,  maybe,  I  shall  come  to  you  with  a 
gift." 

"  A  gift  ?"  said  Mitsos ;  he  then  understood,  and 
"  Ah  !  dearest  of  all,"  he  whispered. 

"  Yes,  even   so,"  said   Suleima ;  "  but,  oh,  Mitsos,  I 

391 


THE    VINTAGE 

pray  that  yon  may  soon  be  able  to  take  me  away,  that 
soon  this  horrible  town  will  fall." 

"Before  long  it  must  he/'  said  he;  "and  when  the 
end  comes  run  to  meet  the  enemy  as  your  deliverer,  cry- 
ing 'I  am  of  your  blood/    Oh,  my  heart,  forget  not  that  V 

Suleima  turned  quickly,  hearing  some  sound  within, 
and  whispering  "  Good-night,"  was  gone  again,  leaving 
Mitsos  alone. 

Heaven  had  opened  ;  and  walking  on  air,  he  went  back 
to  the  camp,  and  waiting  below  the  wall  till  the  sentry 
had  gone  by,  he  climbed  in  again  where  he  had  got  out. 
Eor  the  most  part  the  men  were  gone  to  bed,  but  he 
passed  a  few  on  his  way  back  to  the  little  hut  he  shared 
with  Yanni  and  two  Mainats,  all  of  whom  had  gone  with 
Petrobey,  and,  undressing  quickly,  lay  down  on  his  bed 
to  feast  alone  on  this  great  happiness.  With  the  irre- 
pressible hopefulness  of  youth  his  fears  had  vanished 
before  the  sight  of  the  one — they  had  never  been,  and  he 
set  himself  to  tell  over,  like  a  rosary  of  hallowed  beads, 
the  moments  of  the  night.  Not  till  then  did  he  recol- 
lect the  mysterious  paper  which  he  had  received,  and 
then,  getting  hastily  up,  he  struck  a  light  on  his  tinder- 
box,  and  lit  a  small,  oil-fed  wick.  The  illumination  was 
dim  and  flickering,  but  the  handwriting  was  large  and 
clear,  and  by  holding  it  close  to  the  light  he  could  easily 
read  it.     It  was  very  short,  and  written  in  Greek : 

"  Abdul  Achmet  promises  to  pay  to  Constantinos  Poniropoulos 
the  sum  of  two  hundred  Turkish  pounds,  on  condition  that  he 
and  his  harem  are,  on  the  termination  of  the  siege  of  Tripoli,  in- 
sured security  from  outrage  or  massacre.  For  the  transport  and 
expenses  of  travelling  to  a  place  of  safety  for  each  person  ten 
pounds  in  addition  will  be  paid. 

"(Signed)  Abdul  Achmet, 

"  Ex- Governor  of  the  City  o/Argos.'^ 
392 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Mitsos  read  it  through  once  without  taking  in  the 
meaning,  far  less  the  whole  bearing,  of  it,  and  then  put- 
ting it  back  in  his  pocket  blew  out  his  light,  and  lay 
with  wide-open  eyes  staring  at  the  darkness,  while  the 
full  meaning  of  the  words  slowly  dawned  on  him. 

First  came  hot  indignation.  A  Greek  captain  at  the 
head  of  five  hundred  men  was  privately  trafficking  with 
the  besieged  for  his  private  gains.  But  close  on  the 
heels  of  his  anger  came  fierce,  overwhelming  temptation. 
Abdul  Achmet  was  the  owner  of  Suleima,  and  to  Mitsos 
this  paper  meant  not  only  safe  conduct  to  Abdul,  but  to 
her.  Had  it  been  in  his  power  he  would  have  doubled 
the  bribe  to  the  further  side  of  possibility  to  secure  that, 
and  thrown  his  own  soul  into  the  bargain.  Suleima  safe, 
no  more  fear  for  her,  nor  any  chance  blow  upsetting  a 
too  sanguine  security  !  And  because  he  loved  her  with 
a  true  and  honest  heart  all  thought  of  himself  was  ab- 
sent ;  he  would  have  paid  the  demand  of  angels,  men, 
and  devils  to  secure  her  from  hurt  or  death,  even 
though — and  he  ground  his  teeth  at  the  thought — se- 
curity meant  only  to  go  on  living  in  the  harem  of  Abdul. 
All  the  nightmares  of  the  day  before  the  expedition  of 
the  fire-ship  he  lived  through  again,  feeling  at  first  that 
there  was  no  question  of  choice  before  him,  that  some- 
how or  other  he  must  let  this  note  go  to  Poniropoulos. 
For  this  was  the  more  insidious  temptation,  as  it  could 
be  managed  so  that  no  one,  or  at  the  worst  the  man  for 
whom  it  was  intended,  should  know  his  share  in  it. 
Yet  here  again  was  the  choice  between  two  impossibili- 
ties ;  but  slowly  as  before,  aching  and  bruised  in  spirit, 
he  struggled  back  to  choose  the  honorable. 

But  thus  a  new  difficulty  stood  in  his  way.  It  was  his 
clear  duty  to  let  Nicholas  know  of  this  clandestine  traffic, 
and  in  so  doing  Mitsos  would  have  to  tell  him  of  his  own 

393 


THE    VINTAGE 

absence  by  night  from  the  camp  without  leave.  Nicho- 
las would  ask  the  reason,  and  probably  be  very  angry 
with  him,  though  as  he  had  not  been  detected,  but  con- 
fessed it  himself,  the  offence  would  find  mitigation.  But 
how  came  he  to  be  waiting  under  the  walls  of  Tripoli  ? 

Mitsos  thought  this  over  for  some  little  time  before 
he  arrived  at  the  best  and  most  obvious  solution,  namely, 
to  tell  Nicholas  everything.  The  taking  of  Tripoli  could 
not  be  far  off,  and  he  knew  that  when  that  came  near  he 
would,  for  her  greater  safety,  let  others  know  the  prize 
the  town  held  for  him,  and  a  week  or  two  sooner  or  later 
did  not  make  much  difference.  So,  not  wishing  to  delay 
and  risk  a  hot  resolution,  he  put  on  his  clothes  again  to 
go  to  Nicholas's  quarters.  He  had  just  got  outside  his 
hut  when  he  heard  the  voice  of  the  sentry  challenging 
some  one  without  the  camp,  and  "  but  for  the  grace  of 
God,"  thought  he,  "there  goes  Mitsos." 

"Who  goes  ?"  called  the  sentry  again.  "Speak,  or  I 
fire." 

Mitsos  did  not  hear  the  reply,  but  the  sentry  stood 
still,  while  a  man  clambered  over  the  wall  and  spoke  a 
few  words  to  him.  Standing  in  the  shadow  of  his  door- 
way not  thirty  yards  off,  Mitsos  could  see  who  both  of 
them  were,  and  recognized  Poniropoulos  and  the  burly 
Christos. 

"Fifty  pounds  to  say  nothing  of  this,"  he  heard  Poni- 
ropoulos say. 

There  was  a  short  silence,  and  Mitsos  longed  to  hear 
the  offer  refused.  But  the  greed  of  the  country  Greek 
was  too  strong. 

"Fifty  pounds?"  answered  Christos;  "when  do  you 
pay  me  ?" 

"  On  the  day  Tripoli  falls." 

Again  there  was  a  pause,  and  Mitsos  suddenly  made 

394 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

up  his  mind  to  interfere,  and  he  strode  out  of  the  shadow 
to  where  the  two  were  standing.  They  stood  asunder  a 
few  paces  as  he  came  up  and  took  Christos  by  the 
arm. 

"For  the  love  of  God  say  *No/  Christos/'  he  said. 
"Ask  him  first  what  his  business  was  outside." 

Poniropoulos  came  a  step  nearer. 

"You  young  cub/'  he  said,  below  his  breath,  "what 
business  is  it  of  yours  ?" 

Christos  looked  from  one  to  the  other. 

"He  has  promised  me  fifty  pounds,"  he  said. 

"  0  fool !"  said  Mitsos,  "there  will  be  a  fight  between 
you  and  me  that  will  cost  you  the  best  part  of  a  hundred 
in  blood  and  bruises,  if  you  don't  listen  to  me.  Besides, 
I  don't  want  to  get  you  into  trouble." 

Poniropoulos  looked  thunder  at  the  boy,  but  inwardly 
he  was  disquieted. 

"Go  to  your  kennel,  you  cub,"  he  said,  "or  I  report 
you  to-morrow  morning  for  insubordination." 

Mitsos  gave  a  short  laugh. 

"Very  good,"  he  said,  "that  shall  be  to-morrow,  and 
it  is  yet  to-night.  Look  you,  Christos,  there  will  be 
trouble  if  you  do  not  listen  to  me.     That  is  all." 

He  turned  back  to  his  hut  in  order  to  give  Poniropou- 
los time  to  be  off  and  leave  the  coast  clear,  for  he  wished 
to  get  to  Nicholas  without  making  a  disturbance  in  the 
camp,  and,  shutting  the  door,  waited  for  five  minutes  till 
he  heard  Poniropoulos  walk  off  one  way  and  Christos 
continue  his  rounds.  Then  going  out  again  he  went 
straight  to  Nicholas's  quarters  and  knocked  at  the  door. 

Nicholas  was  asleep,  but  awakened  at  once  at  the 
sound,  and  called  out  to  know  who  was  there. 

"It  is  I,  Mitsos,"  said  the  boy,  "and  I  want  to  see 
you  at  once.  Uncle  Nicholas." 

395 


THE    VINTAGE 

''Wait  a  minute,  then,"  and  from  within  came  the 
sounds  of  the  striking  of  a  flint. 

"  I  can^t  light  this,"  said  Nicholas ;  ''  come  in,  though." 

Mitsos  entered,  feeling  glad  there  was  no  light,  for  it 
made  his  story  easier  to  tell. 

"  There  is  a  powder-box  where  you  can  sit,  little  Mit- 
sos," said  Nicholas,  "  or  sit  on  the  end  of  the  bed.  Now, 
what  brings  you  here  ?" 

Mitsos  felt  in  his  pocket  and  found  the  paper. 

"This,  which  I  am  holding  out  to  you,"  he  said. 
''  On  it  is  written  that  Poniropoulos,  for  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  pounds,  will  insure  safety  to  Abdul  Achmet 
and  his  house  when  Tripoli  falls." 

There  was  a  mementos  silence. 

"The  black  devil!"  said  Nicholas.  Then  suddenly, 
"  How  came  you  by  this,  Mitsos  ?" 

"  That  is  what  I  am  going  to  tell  you." 

Mitsos  found  it  rather  hard  to  begin,  and  after  a  mo- 
ment Nicholas  spoke  again — kindly,  but  gravely. 

"I  am  listening,  Mitsos,"  he  said.  "Hush  !  there  is 
some  one  coming.     Keep  quite  quiet." 

Immediately  after  a  knock  came  to  the  door,  and  Nich- 
olas let  it  be  repeated  before  he  answered. 

"Who  is  it?"  he  asked. 

"  Christos  Choremis,"  said  the  voice,  "  the  sentry  for 
the  last  two  hours." 

"  Well  ?" 

"Half  nn  hour  ago,  sir,  the  Captain  Poniropoulos  climbed 
in  over  the  camp  wall.    I  thought  best  to  tell  you  at  once." 

"Did  he  explain  where  he  had  been  ?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"Open  the  door,  Christos,"  said  Nicholas.  "There 
is  one  question  more.  Did  he  offer  you  money  not  to 
say  anything  about  it  ?" 

396 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Christos  shifted  from  one  foot  to  the  other. 

''No,  sir,"  he  said,  at  length. 

"Yon  did  quite  right  to  tell  me,"  said  Nicholas. 
"You  can  go." 

"Now,  Mitsos,"  said  Nicholas,  when  the  footsteps 
died  away,  "you  can  begin  and  tell  me  how  you  got 
this." 

Then  Mitsos,  with  many  pauses,  told  him  all  that  had 
taken  place  between  him  and  Suleima  from  the  time  he 
had  first  heard  the  voice  out  of  the  darkness  down  to 
this  night,  when  again  it  had  come  to  him,  lying  outside 
the  walls  of  Tripoli,  and  Nicholas  heard  him  in  absolute 
silence. 

"And,  oh,  uncle,  if  it  be  possible,"  cried  Mitsos,  "let 
her  be  safe  when  the  end  of  the  time  comes.  For  there 
is  no  one  like  her,  and  it  has  been  hard  for  me." 

Nicholas  heard  it  in  wonder  and  amazement,  but  he 
had  one  more  question  to  ask. 

"But  when  you  blew  up  the  Turkish  ship,  Mitsos," 
he  said,  "  did  it  not  occur  to  you  that  she  might  be  on 
board  ?" 

"I  thought  she  certainly  was  there,"  said  Mitsos, 
"and  it  was  not  till  it  was  all  over  I  heard  she  was  not." 

Nicholas  reached  out  in  the  darkness  and  took  Mitsos' 
smooth  hand  in  his.  "  God  forgive  us  all !"  he  said ; 
"  and  can  you  forgive  us,  little  Mitsos  ?" 

The  pain  and  relief  of  telling  all  the  story  to  a  man 
whom  he  trusted  and  loved  had  been  too  much  for  the 
boy,  and  he  choked  in  trying  to  find  his  voice. 

"  There,  there  !"  said  Nicholas,  soothingly  ;  "  but  what 
is  the  matter  with  the  young  wolf  ?  He  has  had  good 
news  to-night,  has  he  not  ?  and  has  he  not  seen  the  one 
he  loves  ?  There  is  no  cause  for  this,  little  Mitsos.  But 
this  will  I  do :  by  the  oath  of  the  clan  I  swear  to  you 

397 


THE    VINTAGE 

that  nothing  shall  stay  me — not  fever,  nor  wounds,  nor 
booty,  nor  glory,  only  honor  alone — from  doing  what  in 
me  lies  to  save  her  from  all  peril.  Will  that  do,  little 
one  r 

Mitsos  pressed  his  hand,  but  could  not  speak. 

"  But  this  you  must  promise,"  went  on  Nicholas,  "that 
never  again  will  you  go  out  of  the  camp  by  night  without 
leave.  It  leads  with  other  men  to  ugly  things,  and  to- 
morrow there  will  be  one  man  the  less  in  the  army.  The 
treacherous  villain  !  But  to-morrow  he  leaves  the  camp 
with  disgrace  and  hissing,  for  he  has  made  true  the  false 
slander  of  the  primates,  and  brought  shame  on  us  all. 
And  now  go  to  bed,  Mitsos.  The  service  you  have  done 
in  discovering  this  atones  for  your  fault.  Poor  little 
cub,  but  it  has  been  a  hard  time  for  you." 

Next  day  Poniropoulos  was  publicly  expelled  from  the 
camp,  and  afterwards  Mitsos  sought  out  Christos  and  in 
private  told  him  that  he  was  a  better  fellow  than  he  had 
supposed,  and  that  the  lie  he  had  told  Nicholas  to  screen 
the  captain  found  favor  in  his  eyes.  Christos  was  reasona- 
bly surprised  that  Mitsos  knew  of  the  falsehood,  and  re- 
lieved to  find  he  was  not  disposed  to  quarrel  with  it,  and 
the  two  went  off  and  put  away  a  quart  or  two  of  resined 
wine,  for  which  Mitsos  paid. 

The  news  that  Monemvasia  had  surrendered,  and  the 
details  of  its  surrender,  were  bitter  and  sweet  and  tragic 
and  absurd.  Prince  Demetrius,  it  appeared,  defying  the 
senate,  in  a  fit  of  impotent  rage  against  their  perfectly 
proper  opposition  to  his  wishes,  had  insisted  on  signing 
the  treaty  of  capitulation  with  his  own  name  as  viceroy  of 
the  country,  effendi  or  lord  of  the  country,  and  what  not, 
and  the  Turks,  opening  the  gates  in  order  to  go  down  to 
the  ships  and  take  their  promised  departure,  found  them- 
selves met  by  a  crowd  of  angry  Mainats,  who  considered 

398 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

that  the  treaty  as  signed  by  the  prince  and  not  by  the 
senate  was  null  and  void.  A  riot  took  place,  and  several 
Turks  were  killed  on  the  point  of  embarking;  but  the 
better  part  of  the  Greek  officers,  seeing  that  the  capitula- 
tion had  been  signed,  and  that  whoever  was  to  blame  the 
Turks  were  not,  soon  stopped  it,  and  let  the  embarkation 
proceed,  but  not  before  five  men  had  been  killed  and 
several  houses  sacked.  Monemvasia  had  surrendered — 
so  much  was  good  ;  but  all  the  rest  was  bad.  The  fleet 
and  the  army  distrusted  each  other,  and  the  soldiers  dis- 
trusted their  commanders,  who,  thanks  to  the  primates, 
were  represented  to  them  as  having  made  private  treaties 
with  the  wealthier  Turks,  and  there  was  a  fine  quarrel  as 
to  who  should  set  up  the  Greek  standard  on  the  fallen 
town.  In  one  thing  only  was  there  unanimity,  and  that 
was  in  the  feeling  towards  the  prince.  He  had  shown 
himself  weak  and  indecisive  before,  and  that  had  been 
forgiven  him  ;  he  had  shown  himself  dilatory  and  incapa- 
ble, and  the  commander  under  him  bore  the  blame ;  but 
now  he  showed  himself,  though  with  characteristic  futil- 
ity, evading  and  tampering  with  the  recorded  vote  of  the 
senate,  in  which  he  had  acquiesced  at  the  last  meeting  in 
Tripoli.  The  futility  of  his  act  was  comic ;  his  motive 
was  warped  and  crooked.  In  a  word,  in  that  moment 
all  the  rags  of  authority  which  he  had  brought  from  the 
Hetairia  were  torn  from  him,  and  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses his  connection  with  the  revolution  may  be  said  to 
have  been  over. 

Without  doubt  the  capitulation  was  hopelessly  mis- 
managed, and  the  Turks  got  off  without  paying  a  penny 
towards  the  expenses  of  the  siege.  If  the  same  terms 
were  given  to  every  fortified  place  in  the  Morea,  the 
national  treasury  and  the  funds  of  the  Hetairia  would 
be  certainly  drained  dry  before  half  the  country  was 

399 


THE    VINTAGE 

evacuated ;  and  though  morally  nothing  can  excuse  the 
scenes  of  horror  which  were  about  to  take  place,  yet  pal- 
liation may  be  found  in  those  two  things — that  without 
plunder  gained  from  the  Turk  the  war  was  impossible, 
and  that  the  nation  was  a  nation  of  slaves,  long  ground 
down  by  cruelty  of  all  kinds,  now  in  the  first  hour  of 
its  freedom.  The  despised  but  long  dominant  race  was 
underfoot,  and  they  stamped  it  down. 

The  Mainat  corps  was  still  at  Monemvasia,  where  Pe- 
trobey  was  raising  fresh  recruits  for  the  siege  of  Tripoli, 
and  the  prince  occupying  his  leisure  time,  of  which  he  had 
twenty-four  hours  every  day,  in  trying  to  festoon  the  walls 
of  the  town  with  red  tape,  when  news  came  of  the  fall 
of  Navarin,  a  port  on  the  west  coast.  Ypsilanti  had  sent 
there  a  civilian  from  his  suite  to  represent  the  shadow  of 
nothingness  and  the  senate,  one  of  the  worst  type  of  men, 
who,  under  the  guise  of  patriotism,  had  got  together  a 
large  band  of  freebooters,  to  plunder  and  seize  all  that 
he  could  lay  hands  on.  Before  the  capitulation,  which 
granted  the  besieged  their  lives  and  safe  transport  to 
Egypt  or  Tunis,  had  been  concluded,  many  of  the  Turks 
had,  under  stress  of  hunger,  escaped  from  the  town,  and 
thrown  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the  Greeks,  with 
whom  they  had  lived  on  friendly  terms.  But  the  town 
itself  refused  to  capitulate  till  starvation  compelled. 
Already  for  four  days  nothing  could  be  bought,  for  a 
couple  of  sparrows  or  a  half  -  starved  cat  represented  a 
few  hours'  life,  whereas  a  bushel  of  gold  represented — 
a  bushel  of  gold.  One  man  the  day  before  the  surrender 
was  found  with  a  secret  supply  of  food,  on  which  he 
had  subsisted  for  some  days,  the  remains  of  which  were 
seized  from  him  by  two  starving  savages  and  devoured 
before  his  eyes,  after  which  they  pelted  him  with  all  the 
money  they  had  about  them,  telling  him  he  was  well  paid. 

400 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Perhaps  some  strange  premonition  of  their  fate  induced 
the  gaunt  garrison  to  hold  out ;  perhaps  tales  had  reach- 
ed them  of  what  had  been  the  fate  o-f  those  who  had 
thrown  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the  besieging  army ; 
and  it  was  not  till  August  19th,  just  a  fortnight  after 
Monemvasia  was  taken,  that  the  capitulation  was  signed. 

For  that  day  an  eternal  blot  of  infamy  is  black  against 
the  Greeks.  Hardly  had  the  garrison  evacuated,  giving 
up  their  arms,  when  the  representative  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  senate  thrust  into  the  fire  the  treaty  of  capitula- 
tion, so  that  all  evidence  against  him  might  be  destroyed, 
and  himself  gave  the  signal  for  the  massacre  to  begin. 
A  pretext  was  easily  found,  and  a  blow  given  to  a  Greek 
by  a  Turk  for  insisting  on  searching  the  person  of  one  of 
his  wives  for  treasure  concealed  about  her  was  enough, 
and  in  an  hour  no  Mussulman  was  left  alive.  Women 
were  stripped  of  their  clothing,  and  rushing  into  the  sea 
to  hide  their  shame  were  shot  from  the  shore  ;  babies  were 
snatched  out  of  their  mothers'  arms  and  flung  in  their 
faces;  others,  remembering  the  fate  of  the  patriarch, 
hanged  men  and  women  from  the  lintels  of  their  own 
doors ;  others,  it  is  said,  were  tortured  before  some  one 
of  their  persecutors,  more  humane  than  his  fellows,  de- 
spatched them.  Here,  in  mockery  of  the  Turkish  atroc- 
ities, a  man  was  offered  the  choice  between  Christianity 
and  death,  and  when  he  chose  the  former,  was  *^  baptized 
with  steel"  or  crucified;  a  dozen  or  more  were  burned 
alive  in  a  house  where  they  had  run  for  refuge.  In  an 
hour  the  infamous  work  was  finished,  and  then  arose 
quarrelling  over  the  booty.  Knives  and  rifles  were 
brought  in  to  settle  the  disputes,  while  in  the  mean  time 
two  Spetziot  ships  quietly  went  off  with  the  greater  part 
of  the  spoils. 

Thus  ended  a  day,  the  disgrace  of  which  will  only  be 
2  c  401 


THE    VINTAGE 

forgotten  when  the  glory  of  men  like  Nicholas  has  faded 
too.  Dark  and  horrible  in  part  as  were  the  deeds  which 
were  to  follow,  no  cruelty  so  cold-blooded  and  precon- 
certed stains  the  other  pages  of  the  war.  Cruelties  there 
were,  and  many  black  and  shameful  deeds,  but  deeds 
wrought  in  hot  blood  and  in  the  drunkenness  of  re- 
venge ;  and  happily  the  massacre  of  Navarin  is  unap- 
proached  and  unparalleled. 


CHAPTER  IX 
PRIVATE   NICHOLAS   VIDALIS 

Before  September  was  a  week  old  the  Mainat  corps, 
with  Petrobey  and  the  prince,  were  back  at  Tripoli.  The 
course  events  had  taken  at  Monemvasia  had  inclined  the 
latter  again  to  the  side  of  the  primates,  for  he  interpret- 
ed the  attitude  and  action  of  the  army  with  regard  to  the 
capitulation  of  the  place  as  an  insult  levelled  at  him. 
Germanos  was  not  long  in  perceiving  this ;  but  being 
acute  enough  to  see  that  the  prince's  authority  was  just 
now  naught  but  a  paper  sceptre,  he  reasoned  that  his 
friendship  was  equally  valueless,  unless  he  could  manage 
to  rescue  for  him  a  few  rags  of  the  authority  of  which 
he  had,  by  his  own  folly,  denuded  himself.  In  any  case 
the  support  of  the  primates  was  a  prop  to  the  prince,  and 
as  the  power  of  the  primates  varied  in  inverse  ratio  to  that 
of  the  military  commanders,  Germanos  set  to  work  again 
to  discredit  them  with  the  troops.  There  it  was  that  the 
strength  of  the  revolution  was  beginning  to  lie — not  in 
the  prince,  who  could  not  command  others,  nor  in  the 
senate,  which  was  unable  to  command  itself,  but  in  the 
people  and  the  soldiers,  who  now  for  more  than  four 
months  had  waited  for  the  fall  of  the  city,  still  obedient 
to  many  utterly  incompetent  captains,  and  still  steadfast 
in  their  watchings  on  the  hills.  And  Germanos's  subtle 
brain,  spinning  threads  out  of  itself  like  a  spider,  was 
busy  to  catch  the  army,  while  in  the  end  the  army,  like 

403 


THE    VINTAGE 

some  great  blundering  bee,  burst  unheeding  through  his 
palace  of  silk,  and  left  him  angrily  hungry  and  in  ruins. 

The  tales  of  slander  went  on,  and  another  captain  was 
detected  in  his  infamous  traffic  with  the  besieged.  It 
was  certain  also  that  provisions  were  being  sold  to  the 
men  within  the  walls,  for  one  night  a  Turk  was  captured 
outside,  and  to  save  his  life,  confessed  that  the  besieged 
were  supplied  at  starvation  rates  with  bread  and  fresh 
meat.  Upon  this  second  detection  Petrobey  gave  notice 
that  if  another  case  occurred  the  offender  would  be  shot, 
and  the  night  sentries  were  doubled.  But  whether  the 
treason  was  more  wide-spread  than  they  feared  and  the 
sentries  were  bribed,  or  whether  the  traitors  were  cun- 
ning enough  to  elude  them,  never  came  to  light ;  but 
more  evidence  was  found  that  the  traffic  still  went  on, 
and  one  day,  at  a  meeting  of  the  senate,  Germanos  rose 
and  denounced  the  whole  body  of  officers. 

^'The  siege  still  drags  on,^'  he  said,  '^  and  where  are 
the  preparations  to  bring  it  to  a  conclusion  ?  In  the 
name  of  patriotism,  I  ask.  Where  ?  To  whose  advantage 
is  it  that  all  these  men  are  kept  here  from  their  homes 
and  their  work,  when  the  grapes  are  already  growing  ripe 
for  the  gathering,  and  there  is  none  to  gather  them,  but 
only  the  birds  ?  Is  it  the  men  who  prefer  to  stop  here  in 
these  kennels,  roasted  under  the  mid-day  sun,  and  doing 
tedious  hours  of  drill  ?  Is  it  to  the  advantage  of  the 
primates  that  we  remain  here,  while  our  churches  stand 
empty  and  the  tithes  are  remitted  ?  Is  it  the  most  noble 
Prince  Demetrius  who  detains  the  army  on  this  inhospi- 
table mountain  ?  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Who 
was  it  who  was  found  trafficking  with  Abdul  Achmet  for 
the  safety  of  the  Turk  and  his  harem,  if  not  one  of  these 
captains  ?  Who  was  it  but  another  of  his  class  who,  last 
week  only,  was  detected  in  the  same  treasonable  business  ? 

404 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Who  is  it  now  who  is  selling,  as  yon  all  very  well  know, 
provisions  to  the  besieged  at  rates  which  make  a  man 
soon  rich  ?  To  whose  advantage  is  it  that  we  linger  here, 
while  within  the  town  the  Turk  lives  at  ease  and  knows 
no  lack,  being  sure  no  attack  will  be  made,  and  only 
waiting  till  these  infamous  men  are  satisfied  ?  The  siege 
of  Tripoli  is  this  called  ?  There  has  never  been  any  such 
thing.  This  is  the  market-place  of  Tripoli— a  busy,  profit- 
able market;  and  the  men  who  bring  their  country 
produce  for  sale  are  none  other  than  the  captains  of  the 
army.  In  particular,  there  is  one  among  them  who  might 
have  brought  the  siege  to  an  end  six  weeks  before,  had 
he  wished.  While  the  most  noble  prince — whose  eyes 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  open  on  this  point — was,  and  is,  with 
us,  the  captains  have  the  excuse  that  his  authority  is 
over  them,  that  without  his  consent  they  can  do  nothing. 
Very  sedulous,  no  doubt,  are  their  efforts  to  obtain  his 
consent.  Yet  there  is  a  speciousness  about  such  an  ex- 
cuse, and  we  will  leave  it.  But  during  the  whole  month 
of  August  Prince  Demetrius  was  not  with  us,  and  Nich- 
olas Vidalis  was  supreme  here.  I  ask  him,  therefore, 
before  you  all,  why,  if  he  is  an  honest  man,  he  did  not 
attempt  to  take  the  town  ?" 

Several  times  during  this  speech  an  angry  murmur 
went  up  from  the  military  section  of  the  senate,  but 
Nicholas  more  than  once  rose  to  his  feet  and  quieted 
them  with  an  uplifted  hand.  He  himself  listened  atten- 
tively with  a  smile  on  his  face,  and  when  Germanos  al- 
luded to  his  honesty  he  laughed  aloud.  For  ever  since 
Mitsos  had  told  him  the  story  of  his  own  part  in  the 
war,  unsuspected  by  all,  and  only  divulged  when  ne- 
cessity drove — of  his  silent,  boyish  heroism,  his  uncalcu- 
lating  elimination  of  self — Nicholas  had  been  privy  to 
a  secret  shame  at  his  own  deeds,  or  rather  his  own 

405 


THE    VINTAGE 

words.  To  withstand  the  primates  in  so  far  as  they 
injured  the  cause  was  well ;  but  was  it  seemly  to  brawl, 
to  throw  ineffectual  words  about,  to  waste,  as  he  called 
it,  ^*^good  anger  on  an  unprofitable  thing''?  What 
fruit  had  his  angry  gibes  and  sneers  borne  ?  Were  the 
primates  wagging  their  unamiable  tongues  less  zealously  ? 
Were  they  not  even  speaking  bitter  truth  when  they  said 
that  nefarious  traffic  was  going  on  between  the  captains 
of  the  army  and  the  besieged  ?  If  the  evil  was  to  be 
checked,  it  must  be  checked  another  way,  and  not  by 
sprinkling  the  scandal-mongers  with  insults.  For  a  long 
time  he  had  contemplated  taking  a  certain  step,  and  now 
that  opportunity  offered  itself  so  fitly  he  took  it  with  as 
light  a  heart  as  that  which  a  tired  man  bears  homeward. 
At  the  same  time  the  openness  of  the  accusation  prompted 
an  equal  openness.  Germanos  should  be  answered  once 
for  all  with  his  own  frankness,  and  then  for  the  highest 
trump  card  to  take  the  honor-laden  trick. 

So  Nicholas,  still  smiling  courteously,  asked  permis- 
sion from  the  prince,  and  in  dead  silence  made  his  reply, 
speaking  very  quietly. 

'^'We  have  open  dealings  at  length  from  the  arch- 
bishop,'' he  said,  "  and  though  I  have  dealt  very  openly 
with  him  from  the  first,  yet  never  before  has  he  favored 
me  thus.  He  has  told  us  that  no  preparations  are  being 
made  for  bringing  the  siege  to  a  conclusion.  That,  with 
the  permission  of  all  present,  I  declare  to  be  a  deliberate 
lie.  Ah,  I  must  ask  you  to  sit  down,"  he  said  to  Ger- 
manos,  as  the  latter  rose  angrily  to  his  feet.  "  You  have 
had  a  fair  hearing,  and  I  claim  and  shall  receive  the  same. 
A  lie,"  he  continued, ''  because  I  can  tell  him  it  is  untrue ; 
a  deliberate  lie,  because  there  is  no  need  for  me  to  tell 
him.  He  was  here  throughout  the  month  of  August — 
a  month  to  which  he  again  alluded  later — and  he  knows 

406 


THE  TEEADINa  OF  THE  GRAPES 

that  during  that  month  I  was  a  tired  and  busy  man, 
for  I  was  drilling  successive  companies  of  men  all  day, 
and  if  he  knew  anything  of  military  matters  he  would  be 
well  aware  that  it  was  my  pleasure  to  see  them  improve 
considerably,  so  that  now  the  greater  part  of  them  are 
efficient  soldiers.  He  has  told  us  that  it  is  not  to  the 
advantage  of  the  soldiers  to  remain  here,  and  that  was  in 
a  sense  true,  though  not  wholly ;  for  if  it  is  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  these  men  that  Greece  becomes  a  free  coun- 
try— and  it  is  their  duty  to  help  in  securing  its  freedom — 
it  is  to  their  advantage  that  they  remain  here,  for  here 
they  can  acquire  that  knowledge  which  will  enable  them 
to  fight  successfully.  He  went  on  to  tell  us  that  it  was 
not  to  the  advantage  of  the  primates  to  remain  here. 
Then  why,  in  the  name  of  God,  do  they  do  so  ?  for  it  is 
not  to  the  advantage  of  the  soldiers  that  they  cause  divi- 
sions and  dissensions  among  us.  Let  them  go  home  and 
gather  in  the  tithes  their  hearts  desire.  No  one,  not 
even  I,  will  try  to  stop  them.  Yet  they  do  not  go,  and 
we  must  suppose  it  is  for  some  one's  advantage  that  they 
stop.  Can  it  be  that  some  of  them  have  an  idea  of  get- 
ting possession  of  even  a  considerable  part  of  the  booty 
we  shall  take  ?  Can  it  be  that  one  of  them — yes,  no 
other  than  the  archbishop — came  here  in  the  name  of 
his  Master  and  asked  certain  men — no  other  than  Petro- 
bey  and  myself  —  for  half  the  spoils  which  would  be 
taken,  giving  half  to  the  national  treasury,  and  to  the 
men — the  soldiers  who  had  fought  and  bled  for  it — the 
rest  ?  Those  spoils  were  to  be  devoted  to  the  glory  of 
God,  and  who  but  His  priests,  the  primates  and  bishops, 
were  to  be  trustees  ?  And  on  that  chance  of  getting, 
not  half  the  spoils,  but  still  enough  to  make  it  worth 
while  to  wait,  we  shall  find  the  reason  of  their  stopping 

here/' 

407 


THE    VINTAGE 

Nicholas  looked  across  at  Germanos,  who  sat  white 
and  shaking  with  anger,  and  for  a  moment  his  passion 
flamed  up. 

*^'Sit  there  and  hate  me  !"  he  cried,  "for  that  will  not 
harm  me  !  If  your  motives  were  honest,  why  should  I 
not  tell  them  ?  and,  if  not,  there  is  more  cause  for  them 
J  to  be  known." 

Germanos  suddenly  started  up. 

"It  is  an  infamous  slander  I"  he  exclaimed;  but  Pe- 
trobey,  without  moving  from  his  seat,  turned  to  the 
prince,  speaking  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  all. 

"What  my  cousin  has  said  is  perfectly  true,"  he  re- 
marked.    "I  was  present  myself." 

"Please  to  sit  down,  archbishop,"  said  the  prince. 
"Nicholas  Vidalis  is  speaking  to  us." 

"This  man  has  told  us,"  continued  Nicholas,  "that 
an  infamous  traffic  is  going  on  between  the  Turks  and 
the  captains  of  this  army.  We  all  know,  unhappily,  that 
there  is  some  truth  in  that.  Two  months  ago,  when  this 
assertion  was  as  yet  false,  he  was  saying  the  same  thing, 
and  he  and  others  busied  themselves  in  spreading  reports 
that  it  was  so.  Was  that  the  part  of  an  honorable  man — 
to  spread  those  infamous  lies  about  us,  to  slander  and 
defame  us  to  our  troops  ?  Is  not  the  motive  as  clear  as 
the  noonday?  By  sowing  discord  and  dissension  and 
mistrust  in  our  ranks  he  hoped  to  see  his  grand  scheme 
realized,  to  have  the  army  flocking  to  him,  pouring  in 
gold  and  treasure  for  the  glory  of  God  into  the  hands  of 
his  trustees.  No  great  success  has  attended  these  ef- 
forts, and  when  Prince  Demetrius  left  the  camp  I  do  not 
know  that  the  primates  found  themselves  very  popular 
men.  Finally,  an  attack  has  been  made  on  me  person- 
ally. You  have  been  told  that  at  any  time  during  the 
month  of  August  I  might  have  stormed  the  town  if  I  had 

408 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

wished.  That  is  a  black  falsehood,  though  perhaps  not 
deliberate,  since  the  archbishop  knows  nothing  of  military 
affairs.  For,  in  the  first  place,  my  hands  were  full — it  was 
necessary  to  bring  a  mere  disorderly  rabble  to  military 
efficiency,  and  that,  to  the  best  of  my  power,  I  did  ;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  though  I  was  in  command  of  these 
troops,  I  had  agreed  with  my  superior  in  command  not 
to  make  any  attempt  while  the  army  was  weakened  by 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Mainat  division,  who  were  at 
Monemvasia.  I  appeal  to  him  to  know  whether  this  is 
or  is  not  true." 

"  It  is  true,"  said  Petrobey. 

"As  to  my  having  profited  by  these  delays,"  continued 
Nicholas,  "you  have  only  my  word  against  the  word  of 
another ;  but  if  the  archbishop  has  any  evidence  to 
bring  on  that  point,  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  it.  I  wait 
for  his  reply." 

There  was  a  dead  silence.  Germanos  sat  voiceless,  with 
his  eyes  on  the  floor. 

"  If  he  is  thinking  over  the  evidence  in  his  mind," 
said  Nicholas,  "fitting  it  together  as  a  witness  and 
an  accuser  should,  let  him  say  so,  and  I  will  wait." 

Still  there  was  silence,  and  Germanos,  still  proud  and 
full  of  hate,  sat  there  without  speech. 

"So  it  is  even  as  I  told  you,"  said  Nicholas;  "and 
these  are  malicious  and  lying  words  he  has  spoken  against 
me.  I  am  a  man  easily  provoked,  and,  to  my  shame  I 
speak  it,  one  to  whom  forgiveness  is  a  hard  matter ;  but 
that,  or  so  I  think  it,  is  a  thing  for  which  I  ask  pardon, 
not  of  man,  but  of  God.  Here,  in  this  assembly,  I  have 
been  accused  of  the  blackest  offences  ;  but  the  accusation 
was  blacker  still,  for  it  was  the  fruit  of  malice  and  false- 
hood. This  is  no  matter  for  words  of  regret  from  one 
or  of  pardon  from  the  other,  for  there  is  in  my  heart  no 

409 


THE    VINTAGE 

pardon,  and  in  his,  I  am  very  sure,  no  regret.  Yet  can 
I  rid  myself  of  the  need  of  either  ?  My  heart  is  sick  of 
intrigue  and  dissension,  accusation  and  slander  answering 
accusation,  and  I  will  have  no  more  of  them.  As  I  stand 
in  the  presence  of  God  I  have  only  one  thought,  and  that 
is  the  freedom  of  my  country,  and  I  do  not  serve  it  by 
spending  my  time  throwing  words  at  men  whose  salt  I 
would  not  eat.  It  is  not  so  very  long  since  another  said 
his  voice  would  be  heard  no  more  here,  yet  since  then  it 
has  not  been  silent.  To-day  those  words  are  mine ;  but, 
before  I  go,  one  word.  For  the  love  of  God,  if  any  who 
sit  here  suspect  me  of  treachery,  treason,  or  any  of  those 
things  of  which  I  have  been  accused,  as  he  hopes  to  be 
forgiven  at  the  last  day,  let  him  stand  out  and  say  so." 

Once  again  there  was  a  dead  silence,  and  Nicholases 
face  brightened,  for  the  silence  was  sweet  to  him. 

"  So  be  it,"  he  said,  at  length.  "  I  go  hence  untouched 
by  slander." 

Then  unbuckling  his  sword,  he  laid  it  on  the  table  in 
front  of  the  prince. 

"  My  seat  in  the  senate,  sir,  I  resign,"  he  said ;  '^  my 
commission  as  an  officer  I  resign  also.  By  birth  I  am  a 
Mainat,  and  with  your  highnesses  permission  I  wish  to  be 
enrolled  among  the  private  soldiers  of  the  corps." 

Then  turning  to  Petrobey  : 

*'  Old  friend,"  he  said,  '^  once  more  we  are  together  in 
the  clan." 

And  with  a  step  as  light  as  a  boy's,  and  a  heart  spring- 
ing upward  like  a  lark,  rid  at  last  of  the  burden  of  per- 
sonal ambition,  he  left  the  room  and  went  straight  to 
where  the  corps  were  quartered. 

Nicholas  found  Mitsos  and  Yanni  sitting  on  the  wall 
of  the  camp  near  the  Mainat  quarters,  lecturing  a  small 
audience  on  the  use  and  abuse  of  fire-ships,  for  another 

410 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

attempt  had  been  made  on  a  vessel  of  the  cruising  Turk- 
ish squadron,  with  the  result  of  first  half-roasting  its 
navigator  and  then  completely  drowning  him;  but  the 
men  seeing  an  officer  approach  got  up  and  saluted. 

Nicholas,  still  with  a  singing  heart,  told  them  to  be 
seated,  and,  lighting  a  pipe,  drew  in  the  smoke  in  long, 
contented  breaths. 

'*  This  is  the  first  tobacco  I  have  enjoyed  since  we 
came  here,-"  he  said,  "  for  tobacco  is  tasted  by  the  heart. 
Never  again,  lads,  need  you  jump  up  when  I  come,  for 
I  am  no  longer  an  officer,  but  just  a  private  like  your- 
selves." 

Mitsos  stared  aghast. 

"Uncle  Nicholas,  what  do  you  mean  ?"  he  gasped, 
wrinkling  his  eyebrows.     "  Is  this  Germanos's  doing  ?" 

"  Not  so,  little  Mitsos,  for  neither  Germanos  nor  anoth- 
er could  do  that,  but  only  myself.  I  have  resigned  my 
place  in  the  senate,  I  have  resigned  my  commission,  and 
all  that  is  left  of  me  is  plain  Nicholas ;  but  a  man  as 
happy  as  a  king,  instead  of  a  bundle  of  malice  and  a 
bag  of  bad  words  which  squirted  out  like  new  must. 
Eh,  but  I  am  happy,  and  it  is  God's  own  morning." 

And  he  puffed  out  a  great  cloud  of  smoke  and  laughed 
out  a  great  mouthful  of  laughter. 

"  But  what  has  happened  ?"  cried  Mitsos,  still  feeling 
that  the  world  was  upsidedown. 

"  This  has  happened,  little  one,"  said  Nicholas  ;  "  that 
a  foul-tempered  man  has  made  up  his  mind  to  be  foul 
tempered  no  more,  and  as  the  thing  was  an  impossibil- 
ity when  he  had  to  sit  cocked  up  on  a  chair  opposite  the 
proud  primates,  why  he  has  been  sensible  enough  to 
refuse  to  sit  there  any  longer.  And  as  he  was  tired  of 
tripping  up  on  his  fine  tin  sword,  he  has  given  it  back  to 
the  fine  tin  prince.     And  may  that  man  never  do  any- 

411 


THE    VINTAGE 

thing  which  he  regrets  less.  Ah  !  here  come  my  supe- 
rior officers.  There  will  be  talking  to  do,  but  little  of 
it  will  I  lay  my  tongue  to." 

And  he  sprang  up  and  saluted  Petrobey. 

Petrobey  came  up,  quickly  followed  by  two  or  three 
of  the  other  officers,  among  whom  was  the  prince,  smil- 
ing at  Nicholas  through  his  annoyance,  as  the  man  stood 
at  attention  comely  and  erect. 

*'  Drop  that  nonsense,  dear  cousin,"  he  said,  ''  and 
come  to  my  tent  for  a  talk.  Look,  we  have  all  come  to 
fetch  you." 

Nicholas  looked  at  him  radiantly. 

"  I  have  had  a  set  of  good  minutes  since  I  left  you,"  he 
said.    "  Say  your  say,  cousin,  but  little  talking  will  I  do.'' 

The  prince  came  forward  with  a  fine,  courteous  air. 

"  We  have  come,"  he  said,  "  to  beg  you  to  reconsider 
this  step.  I  fancy  you  will  find  no  more  insults  await- 
ing you  in  the  senate." 

"  Your  highness,"  he  said,  "  I  can  look  back  on  my 
life  and  say  I  have  done  one  wise  thing  in  it,  and  that 
this  morning.  And  if,  as  you  say,  there  are  no  insults 
awaiting  me  in  the  senate,  that  confirms  my  belief  in 
its  wisdom." 

''  But  this  is  absurd,  Nicholas,"  remonstrated  Petro- 
bey, "  and  all  the  primates,  even  Germanos  himself,  re- 
gret what  you  have  done." 

Nicholas  laughed. 

"That  is  a  sweet  word  to  me,"  he  said,  "and  you 
know  it.     But  I  am  no  child  to  be  coaxed  with  sugar." 

"But  think  of  us — we  want  your  help.  You  have 
more  weight  with  the  men  than  any  of  us  !" 

"  I  shall  not  fail  you,"  said  Nicholas,  "and  if  I  do  my 
duty  in  the  ranks  as  well  as  I  hope,  I  think  I  shall  be 
more  useful  there  than  anywhere  else." 

412 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

"  But  your  career,  now  on  the  point  of  being  crowned/' 
said  Petrobey,  eagerly.     "  The  prince  has  promised — " 

But  Nicholas  waved  his  hand  impatiently. 

"  I  have  just  got  rid  of  my  career,"  he  said,  ^'  and  I 
feel  like  a  tired  horse  when  a  stout  rider  dismounts  and 
loosens  the  girth.  Do  not  attempt  to  saddle  me  again. 
Ah,  dear  cousin,"  he  went  on,  suddenly  with  affection 
and  more  gravity,  "  even  you  know  me  not  at  all  if  you 
speak  like  that.  Believe  me,  I  care  only  for  one  thing 
in  this  world,  and  that  is  the  object  for  which  we  have 
labored  together  so  long.  That  cause  I  serve  best  here, 
and  for  these  months  I  have  been  pufi&ng  myself  up  to 
think  that  fine,  angry  words  were  of  no  avail.  But  I 
will  try  them  no  longer ;  I  am  sick  of  anger,  and  my 
belly  moves,  whether  I  will  or  not,  when  I  sit  there  and 
have  to  listen — you  know  to  what.  Leave  me  in  peace. 
It  is  better  so." 

He  glanced  across  at  Mitsos  a  moment,  who  was  stand- 
ing by. 

"  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  alone,  cousin,"  he  said  to 
Petrobey,  "  but  that  will  wait.  Meantime,  I  thank  you 
for  all  your  friendliness  to  me,  and  I  decline  entirely  to 
listen  to  you.     The  thing  is  finished." 

Petrobey  saw  that,  for  the  present  at  least,  it  was  no 
manner  of  use  trying  to  persuade  him,  and  left  him  for  a 
time ;  and  Nicholas,  remarking  that  it  was  time  for  ra- 
tions, and  that  these  officers  were  horribly  unpunctual, 
took  Mitsos  by  the  arm  and  led  him  off  to  the  canteen, 
telling  him  on  the  way  what  had  happened. 

Mitsos  was  furiously  indignant  with  Germanos,  and 
vowed  that  the  camp  should  ring  with  the  hissing  of  his 
name,  but  Nicholas  stopped  him. 

'^I  neither  forgive  nor  forget,"  he  said,  "but  it  is 
mere  waste  of  time  and  temper  to  curse.     The  harm  is 

413 


THE    VINTAGE 

done,  leave  the  vermin  alone ;  oh,  they  have  bitten  me 
sorely,  I  don't  deny  that,  but  if  we  are  going  scaveng- 
ing, as  I  pray  God  we  may,  let  us  begin  in  our  own  house. 
There  are  purging  and  washing  to  be  done  among  the 
men,  I  fear,  little  Mitsos.  And  from  this  day,  if  there 
is  any  traffic  or  dishonorable  barter  among  the  corps  of 
the  clan,  have  me  out  and  shoot  me,  for  I  make  it  my 
business  that  there  shall  be  none.  Now  we  will  go  and 
get  our  rations.  I  ordered  supplies  of  fresh  beef  for  the 
men  yesterday;  that  was  a  good  act  to  finish  up  with, 
and  see  already  I  reap  the  fruits  of  it.'' 

Nicholas  remained  perfectly  firm,  and  Petrobey  event- 
ually desisted  from  his  attempt  to  persuade  him  to  take 
up  his  commission  again,  for  he  might  as  well  have  tried 
to  lever  the  sun  out  of  its  orbit.  But  he  still  continued 
to  ask  Nicholas's  advice  about  the  affairs  of  the  army, 
which  the  latter  could  not  very  well  withhold.  Among 
the  men,  and  especially  among  the  Mainats,  he  under- 
went a  sort  of  upsidedown  apotheosis.  Germanos  had 
made  villanous  accusations  ;  here  was  a  fine  answer.  As 
for  that  proud  man  himself,  he  found  his  position  was 
no  longer  tenable.  So  far  from  being  able  to  profit  by 
Nicholas's  action,  he  discovered,  though  too  late,  that  he 
had  overreached  himself  in  making  so  preposterous  a 
statement  about  his  enemy,  and  the  army  buzzed  away 
through  his  fine  woven  web,  leaving  it  dangling  in  the 
wind.  He  saw  that  his  chance  of  power  was  over,  and, 
accepting  the  inevitable,  took  his  departure  for  Kala- 
vryta,  where  he  hoped  his  authority  remained  intact. 
But,  alas  !  for  the  triumphal  reception  by  the  united 
army — alas  !  too,  for  his  chance  of  the  Patriarchate.  His 
name,  which  he  had  prospectively  throned  in  the  hearts 
of  myriads,  was  flotsam  on  the  tide  of  their  righteous 
anger  against  him,  thrown  up  on  the  beach,  tossed  to 

414 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

and  fro  once  or  twice,  and  then  left.  His  followers, 
the  primates  and  bishops,  less  wise  than  he,  still  stayed 
on,  hoping  against  hope  that  the  popular  favor  would 
set  their  way.  But  the  evil  he  and  his  had  done  lived 
after  them ;  nothing  now  could  undo  the  distrust  and 
suspicion  they  had  caused,  for  their  first  malignant  slan- 
der had  found  fulfilment,  and  the  army  distrusted  its 
officers,  while  the  officers  were  not  certain  of  their  men. 
Nicholas  had  cleared  himself,  leaping  with  a  shout  of 
triumph  free  from  the  weh  spun  round  him ;  others  had 
not  the  manliness  to  do  the  same,  to  challenge  the  evi- 
dence, for  they  knew  there  was  evidence. 

Nicholas  found  opportunity  to  tell  Petrobey  about 
Mitsos^  love  affairs,  but  a  few  days  afterwards  news  came 
to  the  camp  that  a  landing  of  the  Turks  from  their  west- 
ern squadron  was  expected  on  the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  near 
Vostitza,  and  the  prince,  with  some  acuteness,  found  in 
this  rumor  sufficient  reason  to  make  his  presence  there 
desirable.  Petrobey,  wishing  to  have  a  speedy  and  reliable 
messenger  who  could  communicate  with  the  camp  in  the 
event  taking  place,  sent  Mitsos  off  with  him,  and  before 
the  end  of  the  third  week  in  September  the  prince  took 
his  departure  in  some  haste,  hoping  to  regain  in  fresh 
fields  the  loss  of  prestige  he  had  suffered  here  and  at 
Monemvasia.  The  news,  if  confirmed,  was  serious,  for  it 
meant  that  the  Turkish  squadron  had  evaded  the  Greek 
fleet  and  threatened  the  Morea  from  the  north,  while, 
if  once  a  landing  was  effected,  the  Turks  woiild,  with- 
out doubt,  march  straight  to  the  relief  of  Tripoli  just 
when  its  need  was  sorest.  The  prince  left  the  camp  with 
much  state  and  dignity,  but  with  nothing  else,  and  Mit- 
sos, to  whom  he  had  given  a  place  on  his  staff  as  aide-de- 
camp extraordinary  to  the  Viceroy  of  Greece,  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  in  the  Hellenic  army,  pranced  gayly 

415 


THE    VINTAGE 

along  on  a  fine -stepping  horse,  and  for  the  first  time 
fully  sympathized  with  Nicholases  resignation.  They 
travelled  by  short  marches,  "  like  women,"  as  Mitsos  de- 
scribed it  afterwards,  and  one  night  the  aide-de-camp 
extraordinary,  having  occasion  to  bring  a  message  to  his 
master,  woke  him  out  of  his  sleep,  and  saw  the  com- 
mander-in-chief in  a  night-cap,  which  left  a  deep,  bilious 
impression  on  his  barbarian  mind  wholly  out  of  propor- 
tion to  so  innocuous  a  discovery. 

For  a  time,  at  least,  in  Tripoli  there  was  no  more  in- 
triguing between  the  besiegers  and  the  besieged,  for  Petro- 
bey  redoubled  his  vigilance,  and  every  night  sent  down 
a  corps  of  trustworthy  men  to  lie  in  wait  round  the 
town.  Meantime  he  knew  a  strong  band  of  cavalry  and 
a  large  force  of  Albanian  mercenaries  were  within  the 
town,  and  in  the  citadel  was  enough  artillery  to  be  for- 
midable ;  so  that  while  there  was  a  chance  of  capitula- 
tion, provided  the  rumor  of  the  expected  landing  of 
troops  on  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  continued  unconfirmed, 
he  was  unwilling  to  make  an  assault  on  the  town.  But 
it  began  to  be  known  that  the  fall  of  Tripoli  was  inevi- 
table, and  from  all  over  the  country  the  peasants  flocked 
together  on  the  hills  waiting  for  the  end  and  a  share  in 
the  booty.  It  was  in  vain  that  Petrobey  tried  to  drive 
them  back  ;  as  soon  as  he  had  cleared  one  range  of  hills 
they  swarmed  upon  another  like  sparrows  in  the  vines, 
springing  as  it  seemed  from  the  ground,  or  as  vultures 
grow  in  the  air  before  a  battle.  Some  came  armed  with 
guns,  requesting  to  be  enrolled  in  the  various  corps ; 
others  with  sickles  or  reaping-hooks,  or  just  with  a  knife 
or  a  stick.  Every  evening  on  the  hills  round  shone  out 
the  fires  of  this  unorganized  rabble,  gathering  thicker 
and  thicker  as  the  days  went  on. 

Then,  on  the  24th  of  September,  a  refugee  from  the 
416 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GKAPES 

town  was  captured  and  brought  to  the  camp,  and  being 
promised  his  life  if  he  gave  intelligence  of  what  was 
going  on  inside,  told  them  tbat  famine  had  begun  ;  that 
many  of  the  horses  of  the  cavalry  corps  had  been  killed 
for  meat,  and  that  unless  help  came  the  end  was  but  a 
matter  of  hours.  Once  again  Petrobey  consulted  Nich- 
olas, who  advised  an  assault  at  once ;  but  the  other 
argued  that  as  long  as  no  news  came  of  the  reinforce- 
ments from  the  north  the  case  of  the  town  was  hopeless, 
and  as  it  was  for  the  Greeks  to  demand  terms,  they  might 
as  well  wait  for  a  proposal  to  come.  Nicholas  disagreed  ; 
there  had  been  treachery  before  in  the  camp ;  there  might 
be  treachery  now.  Let  them,  at  any  rate,  minimize  the 
disgrace  to  the  nation.  Petrobey  in  part  yielded,  and 
consented  to  do  as  Nicholas  advised  if  no  proposals  were 
made  in  three  days.  In  the  mean  time,  since  there  was 
no  longer  any  fear  of  the  cavalry,  they  would  move  down 
closer  onto  the  plain  and  directly  below  the  walls.  Then, 
if  fire  was  opened  on  them  from  the  citadel,  they  would 
storm  it  out  of  hand  ;  but  if  not — and  he  had  suspected 
for  a  long  time  that  the  guns  were  not  all  serviceable — 
they  would  wait  for  three  days,  unless  Mitsos  came  back 
saying  that  reinforcements  were  on  the  way  from  the 
north. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE    FALL    OF    TRIPOLI 

The  order  to  break  np  camp  was  received  with  shouts 
of  acclamation,  and  all  day  long  on  the  25th  the  pro- 
cessions of  mules  passed,  like  ants  on  a  home  run,  up 
and  down  the  steep,  narrow  path  from  the  plain.  The 
Mainat  corps  were  the  first  to  move,  and  took  up  their 
place  opposite  the  southern  wall,  and  worked  there 
under  the  sun  for  a  couple  of  hours  or  more  throwing 
up  some  sort  of  earth  embankment ;  while  in  the  space 
behind  marked  out  for  their  lines  went  up  the  rows  of 
their  barracks,  pole  by  pole,  and  gradually  roofed  in 
with  osier  and  oleander  boughs.  On  the  walls  of  the 
town  lounged  Turkish  men,  and  now  and  then  a  woman 
passed,  closely  veiled,  but  casting  curious  glances  at  the 
advancing  troops  not  four  hundred  yards  from  the  gate. 
The  men  worked  like  horses  to  get  their  intrenchments 
and  defences  up,  and  by  the  time  each  corps  had  done 
its  work,  the  huts  behind  were  finished ;  and,  stream- 
ing with  perspiration,  the  men  were  glad  to  throw  them- 
selves down  in  the  shade.  As  there  was  no  regular  corps 
.of  sappers  and  engineers,  each  regiment  had  to  do  its  in- 
trenching and  defence  work  for  itself,  and  they  worked 
on  late  into  the  night  before  the  transfer  of  the  entire 
camp  was  effected.  Meantime  Petrobey  had  ordered  the 
posts  on  the  hills  to  the  east  to  close  in,  and  by  noon  on 
the  27th  he  saw  his  long-delayed  dream  realized,  for  on 

418 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

all  sides  of  the  town  ran  the  Greek  lines.  Still,  from 
inside  the  beleaguered  place  came  no  sign  of  resistance, 
attack,  or  capitulation  ;  but  towards  sunset  a  white  flag 
was  hoisted  on  the  tower  above  the  south  gate,  and  a 
few  moments  afterwards  Mehemet  Salik,  attended  by  his 
staff,  came  out,  and  were  met  by  Petrobey.  Yanni,  as 
aide-de-camp,  was  in  attendance  on  his  father,  and  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  his  old  host  again. 

Mehemet  followed  Petrobey  to  his  quarters, Yanni  look- 
ing at  him  as  a  cat  in  the  act  to  spring  looks  at  a  bird. 
He  was  a  short-legged,  stout  man,  appearing  tall  when 
he  was  sitting,  but  when  he  stood,  heavy  and  badly  pro- 
portioned. He  had  grown  a  little  thinner,  or  so  thought 
Yanni,  and  the  skin  hung  bagging  below  his  eyes,  though 
he  was  still  hardly  more  than  thirty.  He  looked  Yanni 
over  from  head  to  foot  without  speaking,  adjusted  his 
green  turban,  and  then,  shrugging  his  shoulders  slightly, 
took  a  seat  and  turned  to  Petrobey. 

"I  have  been  sent  to  ask  the  terms  on  which  you  will 
grant  a  capitulation,"  he  said;  "please  consider  and 
name  them." 

"I  will  do  so,"  replied  Petrobey,  "and  let  you  have 
them  by  midnight." 

Mehemet  glanced  at  his  watch. 

"  Thank  you  ;  w^e  shall  expect  them  then." 

He  rose  from  his  seat  and  again  looked  at  Yanni,  who 
was  standing  by  the  door.  The  two  presented  a  very 
striking  contrast  — the  one  pale,  flabby,  clay -colored, 
slow-moving  ;  the  other,  though  there  were  not  ten  years 
between  them,  fresh,  brown,  and  alert.  Mehemet  con- 
tinued looking  at  him  for  a  moment  below  his  drooping 
eyelids  without  speaking,  and  then  the  corners  of  his 
sensual  mouth  straightened  themselves  into  a  smile.  He 
held  out  his  hand  to  the  boy. 

419 


THE    VINTAGE 

''  So  we  meet  again,  my  guest/'  he  said  ;  '^your  leave- 
taking  was  somewhat  abrupt.    Will  you  shake  hands  ?" 

Yanni  bristled  like  a  collie  dog,  and  looked  sideways 
at  him  without  speaking,  but  kept  his  hands  stiff  to  his 
side. 

"  You  vanished  unexpectedly,  just  when  I  hoped  to 
begin  to  know  you  better,"  continued  Mehemet. 

But  Petrobey  interfered  sternly. 

"  You  are  not  here,  sir,  to  confer  insults,"  he  said. 

Mehemet  turned  round  slowly  towards  him  with  a  face 
of  sallow  death. 

''  Surely  my  teeth  are  drawn,  as  far  as  the  boy  is  con- 
cerned," he  said;  "but  let  me  know  one  thing,"  he  con- 
tinued, "for  I  have  a  heavy  wager  about  it.  Did  you 
bribe  the  porter,  or  did  you  get  through  the  roof  ?" 

"  Through  the  roof,"  said  Yanni,  as  stiff  as  a  poker. 

"  I  have  lost.  I  said  you  bribed  the  porter.  He  shall 
come  out  of  prison  to-night  and  have  poultices,  for  he 
was  much  beaten.     Good-evening,  gentlemen." 

Yanni  turned  to  Petrobey  with  blazing  eyes. 

"  Cannot  I  kick  him  now  ?"  he  whispered. 

"  How  can  I  give  you  permission  ?"  said  Petrobey. 

Yanni  looked  at  him  a  moment  and  then  his  lips  parted 
in  a  smile,  and  he  went  out  of  the  tent. 

Mehemet  was  a  few  yards  down  the  path,  going  tow- 
ards the  gate  of  the  camp  where  his  staff  was  waiting, 
and  in  three  strides  Yanni  caught  up  with  him. 

"  Oh,  man  !"  he  said,  and  no  more ;  but  next  moment 
Yanni's  foot  was  deep  in  the  folds  of  his  excellency's 
baggy  trousers.  His  excellency  was  lifted  slightly  for- 
ward from  behind,  and  picked  himself  up  with  a  cry  of 
lamentation,  for  the  pain  had  been  exquisite.  Yanni 
was  by  him  with  a  brilliant  smile  on  his  face. 

"You  insulted  me  under  the  flag  of  truce,"  he  said, 
420 


^M-r. 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

kindly,  '^  and  under  the  flag  of  truce  I  have  answered 
you.  There  is  quits."  And  he  turned  and  went  back  to 
his  father. 

Petrobey  appeared  to  be  absorbed  in  writing,  and  he 
did  not  look  up,  but  handed  Yanni  a  paper. 

"  Go  at  once  to  the  captains  whose  names  I  have 
written  here,  Yanni,"  he  said,  ^^and  tell  them  to  come 
immediately  to  consult  about  the  terms  of  capitulation. 
I  thought,"  he  added,  "that  I  heard  a  slight  disturbance 
outside.     Can  you  account  for  it  ?" 

"  It  seemed  to  be  the  settlement  of  some  private  differ- 
ence, sir,"  said  Yanni.    '^It  is  all  over." 

'^Is  the  difference  settled  ?" 

'^  There  is  a  very  sore  man,"  said  Yanni. 

The  conference  among  the  captains  lasted  only  a  short 
time,  and  in  a  couple  of  hours  the  terms  were  despatch- 
ed to  Mehemet.  The  Turks  were  to  give  up  their  arms 
and  were  to  be  allowed,  or  rather  compelled,  to  leave 
the  Morea.  They  were  further  to  pay  the  indemnity 
of  forty  million  piastres,  that  being  approximately  the 
cost  of  the  war,  including  the  provisions  and  pay  of  all 
the  men,  from  the  time  of  its  outbreak.  In  less  than  an 
hour  the  answer  came  back.  The  demand  was  preposter- 
ous, for  it  was  impossible  to  collect  the  money,  but  in 
return  they  made  a  counter-proposition.  They  would  give 
up  the  whole  of  their  property  within  the  town,  renounce 
all  rights  of  land,  retaining  only  sufficient  means  to  en- 
able them  to  reach  some  port  on  the  Asia  Minor  coast, 
but  demanding  leave  to  retain  their  arms  in  order  to  se- 
cure themselves  from  massacre  on  the  way  to  Nauplia. 
Xhey  also  insisted  on  occupying  the  pass  over  Mount 
Parthenius,  between  the  Argive  plain  and  Tripoli,  until 
the  women  and  children  had  been  embarked  in  safety. 
This  precaution,  they  added,  was  due  to  themselves,  for 

421 


THE    VINTAGE 

they  had  no  guarantee  that  without  their  arms  the 
Greeks  would  not  violate  the  terms  of  the  capitulation 
as  they  had  violated  them  at  Navarin. 

The  Greek  chiefs  refused  to  consider  the  proposal,  for 
if  the  Turks  distrusted  them,  they  at  least  had  no  reason 
to  trust  the  Turks  ;  and  if  the  regiments  in  the  town 
occupied  Parthenius,  what  was  to  hinder  them  from 
marching  on  to  Nauplia  and  remaining  there  ?  Nauplia 
still  held  communication  with  the  sea,  and  they  had  not 
spent  six  months  in  reducing  Tripoli  only  at  the  end  to 
let  the  besieged  go  out  in  peace  to  another  and  better- 
equipped  fortress. 

Once  more  affairs  were  at  a  deadlock,  and  at  this  point 
Petrobey  made  an  inexcusable  mistake.  He  ought,  with- 
out doubt,  to  have  stormed  the  place  and  have  done 
with  it ;  but  when,  in  a  moment  of  weakness,  he  put  the 
proposal  to  the  captains,  the  majority  of  them  were 
for  waiting.  The  reason  was  unhappily  but  too  plain. 
They  knew  that  famine  prevailed  in  the  town,  they 
knew,  too,  that  its  capitulation  was  inevitable,  but  they 
saw  for  themselves  a  rich  harvest  gained  in  a  few  days 
by  secretly  supplying  the  besieged  with  provisions,  and 
for  the  next  week  Germanos's  bitter  words  were  terribly 
true.  This  was  no  siege  of  Tripoli ;  it  was  the  market 
of  Tripoli. 

On  the  28th  came  another  proposal  from  the  town, 
this  time  not  from  the  Turks,  but  from  the  Albanian 
mercenaries  who  had  formed  the  attack  on  the  post  at 
Valtetzi  in  May.  They  were  fifteen  hundred  strong, 
and  good  soldiers,  but  as  mercenaries  they  had  no  feel- 
ings of  obligation  or  honor  to  their  employers,  and 
did  not  in  the  least  desire  a  fierce  engagement  with 
the  Greeks  ;  and  now  that  all  idea  of  capitulation  was 
over,  for  neither  side  would  accept  the  ultimatum  of  the 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

other,  it  was  clearly  to  their  advantage  to  get  away,  if 
they  could,  with  their  lives  and  their  pay.  The  town 
would,  without  doubt,  fall  by  storm,  their  employers 
would  be  massacred,  and  their  best  chance  was  to  stand 
well  with  the  besiegers.  They,  therefore,  offered  to  go 
back  to  Albania,  and  never  again  to  enlist  in  the  Turkish 
service,  provided  they  might  retire  with  their  arms.  The 
Greeks,  on  their  side,  had  no  quarrel  with  them ;  many 
were  related  to  them  by  ties  of  friendship  and  blood  ; 
they  had  no  desire  to  gain  a  bloody  and  hard-won  victory 
if  there  was  a  chance  of  detaching  the  mainstay  of  their 
foes,  and  they  agreed  to  their  terms. 

The  weather  was  hot  and  stifling  beyond  description, 
and  the  Mainats  who  were  on  the  south  felt  all  day  the 
reflected  glare  and  heat  from  the  walls  as  from  a  furnace. 
In  that  week  of  waiting  Petrobey  lost  all  the  confidence 
of  the  clan,  for  they  alone  were  blameless  of  this  out- 
rageous traffic  that  had  sprung  up  again,  and  they  were 
waiting  while  Petrobey  let  it  go  on.  He  had  asked  the 
advice  of  men  who  were  without  principle  or  honor,  who 
were  filling  their  pockets  at  the  expense  of  the  honor 
of  others,  and  though  he  himself  was  without  stain,  yet 
his  weakness  at  this  point  was  criminal.  It  seemed  that 
he  refused  to  believe  what  the  army  knew,  and  persisted 
in  judging  the  whole  by  the  behavior  of  the  clan  them- 
selves. Nicholas  appealed  to  him  in  vain,  but  Petrobey 
always  asked  whether  he  had  himself  seen  evidence  of 
the  scandal,  and  being  in  the  Mainat  corps,  he  had  not. 
In  vain  Nicholas  pointed  out  that  a  week  ago  they  knew 
that  famine  was  preying  on  the  besieged,  yet  a  week  had 
gone  and  the  famine  seemed  to  have  made  no  impression. 
How  was  it  possible  that  the  town  could  hold  out  unless 
it  was  being  supplied  ?  And  how  could  a  commander 
know  what  was  going  on  among  the  hordes  of  peasants 

423 


THE    VINTAGE 

who  flocked  to  the  camp  ?  Now  that  the  evil  was  so 
wide -spread  and  universal,  a  whole  regiment  perhaps 
profited  by  the  traffic ;  and  where  was  the  use  of  any 
man  informing  his  captain  ? — for  the  captains  were  the 
worst  of  all. 

Meantime,  inside,  Suleima  watched  at  her  latticed 
window  and  looked  for  Mitsos.  A  week  ago  she  had 
watched  the  men  streaming  down  from  Trikorpha  to  the 
plain,  and  had  hardly  been  able  to  conceal  her  joy, 
while  round  her  the  other  women  wailed  and  lamented, 
saying  that  they  would  all  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
barbarous  folk.  On  the  other  side,  away  from  the  wall, 
the  windows  of  the  harem  looked  out  onto  a  narrow, 
top-heavy  street,  the  eaves  of  the  houses  nearly  meeting 
across  it,  and  on  the  top  again  was  a  large,  flat  roof, 
where  they  often  went  to  sit  in  the  evening  and  chatter 
across  the  street  to  the  women  on  the  house  opposite. 
By  day  a  ribbon  of  scorching  sunlight  moved  slowly 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  and  often  Suleima  would  sit 
at  the  window  which  overhung  the  foot-path,  watching 
and  watching,  but  seeing,  perhaps,  hardly  a  couple  of 
passengers  in  as  many  hours,  for  this  was  only  a  side 
street  where  few  came.  By  leaning  out  she  could  just 
catch  a  glimpse  of  a  main  thoroughfare  which  led  into 
the  square,  but  only  Turks  passed  up  and  down.  The 
others  looked  at  her  with  wonder  and  pity,  thinking  her 
hardly  in  her  right  mind  to  be  smiling  and  happy  at  such 
a  time,  for  close  before  her  lay  the  trial  and  triumph  of 
her  sex,  and  the  Greeks  were  at  the  door.  The  harem 
generally,  and  also  the  chief  wife,  whose  slave  she  was, 
knew  her  condition,  but  from  a  feeling  partly  of  pity  and 
affection — for  she  was  a  favorite  with  all — partly  from 
indifference,  had  not  accused  her  to  Abdul.  Abdul 
himself,  in  the   excitement  and  preoccupation  of  the 

424 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

siege,  had  not  been  in  the  harem  more  than  twice  in  as 
many  months,  and  thus  her  state  had  escaped  detection. 

So  she  went  about  with  her  day-dream  and  snatches  ot 
song,  painting  in  her  mind  a  hundred  pictures  as  to  how 
Mitsos  would  come.  Should  she  see  him  stalking  up 
the  narrow  street,  then  looking  up  and  smiling  at  her, 
bringing  the  news  that  the  town  had  capitulated  and  he 
had  come  to  claim  her  ?  There  would  be  a  step  on  the 
stair  and  he  would  come  in,  bending  to  get  through  the 
door  ;  and  then,  oh,  the  blessedness  of  talk  and  tears  that 
would  be  hers  !  Or  would  there  come  a  shout  and  the 
sound  of  riot  and  confusion,  and  streaming  up  the  street 
a  fighting  crowd  ?  He  would  be  there  in  the  middle  of 
it  all,  slashing  and  hewing  his  way  to  her.  He  would 
look  up — that  he  would  always  do — and  see  her  at  the 
window,  and  then  get  to  work  again,  dealing  death  to 
all  within  reach.  Perhaps  he  would  be  hurt,  not  much 
hurt,  but  enough  to  make  her  lean  over  him  with 
anxious  face  and  nimble,  bandaging  hands,  and  the  joy 
of  ministering  to  him  leaping  in  her  heart.  It  was  tow- 
ards this  vision  that  she  most  inclined,  to  Mitsos,  fight- 
ing and  splendid  as  fresh  from  the  dust  and  the  ecstasy 
of  struggle,  coming  to  her — the  mistress  and  lady  of  his 
arm — lover  to  lover.  Or  would  he  come  by  night  silent- 
ly beneath  the  stars,  as  he  had  come  before,  or  with  a 
whispered  song  which  her  heart  had  taught  her  ears  to 
know,  and  take  her  away  while  the  house  slept,  out  of 
this  horrible  town,  and  to  some  place  like  in  spirit  to  the 
lonely  sea-scented  beach  near  Nauplia,  into  remoteness 
from  all  things  else  ?  In  these  half-formulated  dreams 
there  was  never  any  hitch  or  disturbance — doors  yielded, 
men  slept,  or  men  fell,  and  through  all  like  a  ray  of  light 
came  Mitsos,  unhindered,  irresistible. 

But  after  three  or  four  days  her  mood  changed,  and 
425 


THE    VINTAGE 

from  her  eyes  looked  out  the  soul  of  some  timid,  fright- 
ened animal.  Why  did  he  not  come — by  night  or  in 
peace  or  in  the  shout  of  war  ?  What  meant  this  sud- 
den increase  in  their  food,  for  now  for  more  than  a 
week  they  had  lived  but  on  sparing  rations  ?  Yet  the 
fresh  meat  and  new  bread  revolted  her  ;  she  was  hungry, 
yet  she  could  not  eat.  The  women  were  kind  to  her, 
and  Zuleika  used  to  make  her  soup  and  force  her  with 
firm  kindness  to  drink  it ;  they  were  always  plaguing 
her,  so  she  thought,  not  to  prowl  about  so  much,  to  rest 
more  and  to  eat  more,  and  when  she  understood  why,  she 
obeyed  them.  For  a  few  nights  before  she  had  slept  but 
lightly,  and  her  sleep  was  peopled  with  vivid  things — 
now  she  would  be  moving  in  a  crowd  of  flying  fiery 
globes,  she  one  of  them ;  now  the  dark  was  full  of  gray 
shapes  that  glided  by  her  windily  with  a  roar  of  the 
remote  sea,  but  at  the  end  they  would  disperse  and  leave 
her  alone,  and  out  of  the  darkness  came  Mitsos,  and 
with  that  she  would  dream  no  more.  But  waking  and 
the  hours  of  the  day  changed  place  with  the  night,  and 
it  seemed  that  she  moved  in  a  nightmare  until  she  slept 
again. 

But  when  she  understood  the  reason  for  which  they 
pressed  her  to  rest  and  eat,  she  quickly  regained  the  se- 
renity of  her  health,  and  during  the  last  two  days  of 
waiting,  though  her  fears  and  anxieties  crouched  in  the 
shade  ready  to  spring  on  her  again,  they  lay  still,  and 
the  claws  and  teeth  spared  her. 

But  one  morning — it  was  the  3d  of  October — there 
was  suddenly  a  tumult  in  the  streets,  and  cries  that  the 
Greeks  had  come  in,  and  Suleima  went  up  to  the  house- 
top to  see  if  she  could  find  out  where  they  were  entering, 
prepared  to  run  out  into  the  street  to  meet  them,  crying 
to  them  as  her  deliverers,  as  Mitsos  had  told  her.     In 

436 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

the  brightness  of  that  sudden  hope  that  the  end  had 
come,  she  felt  no  longer  weary  or  ill,  and  she  looked  out 
over  the  town  with  expectant  eyes.  But  by  degrees  the 
tumult  died  down  again,  and,  bitterly  disappointed,  she 
crept  back  to  the  room  of  the  harem  where  the  women 
were  sitting  to  ask  what  this  meant.  None  knew,  but 
in  a  little  time  they  heard  a  renewed  noise  from  the 
street,  and  running  to  look  out,  they  saw  a  small  body  of 
Turkish  soldiers  advancing,  and  in  the  middle  a  very 
stout  lady  riding  a  horse.  Behind  her  came  two  servants 
driving  horses  with  big  panniers  slung  on  each  side,  and 
the  stout  lady  talked  in  an  animated  manner  to  the  sol- 
diers, pointing  now  to  one  house  and  then  to  another. 
Then  looking  up  at  the  window  of  Abdul  Achmet's 
house,  out  of  which  Suleima  was  leaning,  she  shouted 
some  shrill  question  in  Turkish,  which  Suleima  did  not 
catch,  and  the  procession  turned  up  into  the  main  street, 
seeming  to  halt  opposite  the  door  leading  into  the  front 
court-yard. 

In  a  little  while  Abdul  Achmet,  with  a  eunuch,  came  in, 
at  whose  entrance  Suleima  drew  back  behind  the  other 
women  and  wrapped  her  bernouse  round  her.  He  wore 
a  face  of  woe,  and  behind  they  could  hear  the  voice  of 
the  stout  lady,  who  found  the  stairs  a  little  trying.  She 
entered  the  room  with  a  shining,  smiling  face,  and  sat 
down  puffing  on  a  sofa. 

*' And  when  Fve  got  my  breath  again,"  she  said,  volu- 
bly, as  if  still  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  "  I'll  tell  you 
who  I  am,  and  what  I  am  going  to  do,  and  what  you  are 
going  to  do.  A  hot  morning  it  is,  and  there^s  no  deny- 
ing it,  and  though  I've  seen  many  pretty  faces  in  my 
day,  sir,  I  can't  remember  that  I  ever  set  eyes  on  any- 
thing so  nice  as  your  little  lot.  And  what  may  your 
name  be,  my  dear  ?"  she  said,  turning  to  Suleima,  who 

437 


THE    VINTAGE 

shrank  from  her  without  knowing  why  ;  *^but  whatever 
your  name  is,  it  was  a  fine  day  for  yonr  kind  master 
when  he  first  set  eyes  on  you/' 

She  looked  at  Suleima  more  closely;,  and  waiting  till 
Achmet  and  the  eunuch  had  left  the  room :  '*  Poor  lamb  ! 
and  so  young,  too,"  she  said,  kindly  enough  ;  ^'and  now 
Fve  got  my  breath  a  bit,  Fll  tell  you  my  business.  Tm 
a  Greek  by  birth,  though  you  can  hear  I  talk  Turkish 
like  the  Sultan  himself,  and  as  for  my  name,  why,  it's 
Penelope." 

Suleima  suddenly  burst  into  a  helpless  fit  of  laughter 
at  this  funny  old  woman,  though  she  was  not  funny  at 
all,  she  thought,  but  simply  a  fat,  disgusting  old  hag. 
Penelope  stopped  short  at  this  unseemly  interruption, 
and  for  a  moment  seemed  disposed  to  resent  it ;  but 
some  womanly  feeling  came  to  her  aid,  and  she  pulled  a 
great  bottle  of  some  strong -smelling  stuff  out  of  her 
pocket  and  applied  it  to  Suleima's  nose  as  she  sat 
rocking  herself  backward  and  forward  with  peals  of 
laughter. 

"  She'll  faint  if  she  laughs  like  that,"  she  explained, 
"  and  this  will  pull  her  together  a  bit.  Get  some  brandy, 
one  of  you,  quickly.  There,  there,  my  dear,"  she  went 
on  to  Suleima,  "be  quiet  now,  be  quiet,  it's  all  right, 
and  take  a  spoonful  of  this,  it  '11  do  you  good." 

Suleima  gradually  recovered  herself  through  a  spasm 
of  coughing  and  choking,  and  the  brandy  brought  her 
round. 

•"  I  am  sorry  for  laughing,"  she  said,  no  longer  shrink- 
ing from  the  woman  ;  and  speaking  low  to  her,  in  Greek, 
"but  I  am  not  very  well.  And,  oh,  tell  me,  you  look 
kind  ;  have  you  seen  Mitsos  ?  Where  is  he  ?  Why  does 
he  not  come  ?" 

Penelope  started  in  surprise. 
428 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

"My  poor  little  one/'  she  answered,  in  Greek,  "what 
does  this  mean  ?     But  wait  a  minute." 

Then,  speaking  in  Turkish  again  : 

"  I  thought  Fd  seen  her  before/'  she  explained  aloud, 
"and  she  says  she  comes  from  Spetzas,  which  is  my 
home.  And  what  Fve  come  for  is  this,  and  I'm  here  to 
help  all  you  women.  You  will  give  up  to  me  all  your 
money  and  jewels,  my  pretties,  for  the  Greek  command- 
er, who  is  a  relation  of  mine" — this  was  not  the  case — 
"wishes  neither  to  hurt  nor  harm  you;  but  if  you  are 
found,  any  of  you,  with  jewels  or  money  about  you,  why, 
it  may  be  the  siege  of  Navarin  over  again.  So  now  I 
shall  wait  here,  and  each  of  you  will  fetch  all  you  have ; 
and  to  make  things  sure  and  certain,  Fll  just  search  you 
as  well.  This  girl,"  and  she  pointed  to  Suleima,  "shall 
come  to  me  first ;  so  get  you  all  gone,  and  Fll  call ,  you 
in  one  at  a  time." 

They  all  dispersed  to  their  rooms  to  get  their  trinkets 
and  money,  and  in  a  few  moments  Suleima  came  back, 
and  the  other  closed  the  door  quickly  behind  her. 

"You  are  a  Greek,  child,"  she  said.  "Yes,  put  your 
bits  of  finery  in  my  basket ;  we  have  not  much  time." 

She  heard  Suleima's  story  with  many  raisings  of  the 
hand  and  exclamations  of  wonder,  and  when  she  had 
finished  she  kissed  her,  like  a  true  woman,  with  pity  and 
affection. 

"  Poor  child,  poor  child  !"  she  soothed  her,  "I  will  do 
the  best  I  can.  God  knows  what  will  happen  when  the 
end  comes,  for  the  camp  is  like  a  pack  of  wolves.  This 
Mitsos  of  yours  has  some  glimmerings  of  sense,  but  look 
at  the  risk  you  run  if  you  do  as  he  tells  you.  Fancy 
running  to  meet  a  lot  of  wolves,  you  in  your  Turkish 
dress,  crying  you  are  a  wolf  too.  Ah,  dear  me,  dear 
me,  and  the  child  and  all !    But  this  is  my  idea  :  separate 

429 


THE    VINTAGE 

yourself  at  all  costs  from  the  other  women.  If  they  stay 
in  the  house,  run;  if  they  run,  stay  here.  Do  not  be 
seen  with  them ;  unveil  your  face,  as  the  Greek  women 
do,  and  if  possible  avoid  a  mob  of  Greeks.  If  you  have 
to  go  into  the  street  keep  in  a  side  street,  where  perhaps 
stragglers  only  will  come.  And  the  Lord  be  with  you, 
poor  child  V 

Suleima  clung  to  this  woman  —  usually  coarse  and 
greedy,  but  one  who  had  the  springs  of  true  womanli- 
ness in  her — as  to  a  rock  of  refuge,  and  without  search- 
ing her,  but  kissing  her  again  affectionately,  she  waited 
till  the  girl's  tears  had  subsided  before  opening  the  door 
and  calling  in  the  next  woman.  In  turn  they  all  passed 
before  her  and  gave  up  their  valuables.  There  was  but 
little  money,  for  the  women  spent  it  for  the  most  part 
on  finery,  and  poured  into  Penelope^s  basket  turquoise 
collars,  fine  filagree  work  from  the  bazaars,  bracelets  set 
with  pearls  or  moonstones,  and  ear-rings  of  all  sorts.  The 
search  was  hastily  done,  for  she  had  many  houses  to  visit, 
and  with  a  curious  mixture  of  humanity  and  greed  she 
wished  to  make  as  rich  a  harvest  as  possible — since  she 
received  a  share  of  what  she  got — and  at  the  same  time 
do  all  she  could  for  these  poor  caged  women.  And  so 
for  two  days,  as  there  were  many  houses  to  go  to  and 
much  to  be  got,  sometimes  with  difficulty — for  some  of 
the  women  would  have  preferred  to  run  the  risk  of  hav- 
ing valuables  concealed  about  them — she  went  on  her 
rounds  of  greedy  mercy,  and  it  was  not  till  the  morn- 
ing of  the  5th  of  October  that  she  went  out  again  to  the 
camp. 

During  those  two  days  matters  outside  had  gone  from 
bad  to  worse.  Anagnostes  had  been  detected  traffick- 
ing with  the  besieged,  and  when  Nicholas  laid  the  proof 
of  his  guilt  before  Petrobey,  he  buried  his  face  in  his 

430 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

hands  and  said  he  could  do  nothing.  That  hour  of  weak- 
ness, when  he  had  consulted  men  who  he  knew  would 
only  give  him  selfish  and  dishonorable  counsel,  had 
broken  his  authority  like  a  reed.  Anagnostes's  corps 
shared  his  guilt,  probably  down  to  the  youngest  man  in 
his  service,  and  if  he  punished  one  he  would  have  to 
punish  hundreds. 

'^  And,  oh,  Nicholas,"  said  Petrobey,  in  piteous  appeal, 
''if  ever  you  have  loved  me,  or  can  still  remember  that 
we  are  of  one  blood,  help  me  now,  by  what  way  you  will. 
I  was  ever  honorable,  but  I  have  been  as  weak  as  water ; 
your  strength  and  your  honor  are  both  unshaken." 

This  was  on  the  morning  of  the  5th;  and  before  Nich- 
olas could  reply,  a  shrill,  rather  breathless,  voice  bawled 
to  Petrobey  from  outside,  and  Penelope  demanded  ad- 
mittance. It  was  not  her  way  to  ask  twice,  and  she  fol- 
lowed her  demand  up  by  putting  her  red  face  through 
the  tent -flap,  and,  entering  herself,  bade  her  servants, 
laden  with  jewels,  also  to  enter. 

Petrobey  turned  one  last  look  at  Nicholas. 

"  You  will  help  me  ?"  he  said. 

^'  I  was  always  ready,"  said  Nicholas,  smiling,  and  he 
went  lightly  out  of  the  tent. 

Some  fine  wrangling  was  going  on  in  the  Mainats'  quar- 
ters when  he  appeared,  and  two  men  appealed  to  him. 

'^  Is  it  true  that  the  woman  has  taken  all  the  spoils  to 
Petrobey^s  tent  ?"  asked  one. 

Nicholas  dived  at  the  meaning  of  the  question. 

^'  His  honor  is  untouched,"  he  said  ;  ''they  are  there 
only  for  safe  keeping ;  I  swear  it,  and  will  go  bail  for 
my  life  on  it." 

Then  to  himself  :  "  The  time  has  come,"  he  thought, 
"  when  even  he  is  not  spared." 

"  Look  you,  lads,"  he  said,  aloud,  "  to-day  Tripoli  falls. 
431 


THE    VINTAGE 

When  it  has  come  to  this,  that  yon  can  snspect  him,  it 
is  time.  We  make  the  attempt — we  Mainats,  who  were 
ever  the  first  at  great  deeds.  Come,  snmmon  the  men. 
Yes,  I  have  the  authority — more  than  that,  I  have  prom- 
ised to  help,  and  there  is  only  one  way." 

In  five  mimites  the  word  had  gone  abont,  and  the 
corps,  some  five  hundred  strong,  flocked  eagerly  to  hear 
Nicholas.  He  went  with  the  captains  into  the  officers' 
tent,  and,  forgetful  of  his  rank  among  men  who  had  al- 
ways treated  him  as  the  king  of  men,  bade  them  sit  down. 

"In  ten  minutes,"  he  said,  "the  corps  must  stand 
under  arms,  and  a  moment's  delay  after  that  may  spoil 
everything.  I  lead  the  way,  and  Ave  go  at  a  double's 
double  straight  to  the  Argos  tower.  At  that  corner  a 
man  can  climb  the  wall,  for  there  are  rough,  projecting 
stones.  How  do  I  know  that  ?  Because  I  climbed  it 
last  night  when  I  was  on  sentry  duty.  So  much  for 
the  vigilance  of  those  moles  and  bats  who  are  stationed 
there.  With  me  I  shall  have  a  rope,  which  I  shall  fasten 
to  the  battlements,  and  then,  in  God's  name,  follow  like 
the  bridegroom  to  the  bride  -  chamber.  The  man  be- 
hind me  carries  the  Greek  flag,  which  he  hands  me  as 
soon  as  I  am  up.  Ah,  my  friends,  grant  me  that  one 
sweet  moment.  Yet — no,  we  will  vote  for  the  man  who 
shall  do  that." 

A  deep  murmur — "You,  you,  Nicholas,  Nicholas" — 
ran  round,  and  so  another  moment  of  happiness,  so  great 
that  it  was  content,  was  given  him. 

"And  now  up  with  you,"  said  Nicholas.  "Ah,  let  us 
shake  hands  first.  0  merciful  God,  but  Thou  art  very 
good  to  me  !" 

The  attempt  was  so  daring,  so  utterly  unexpected,  that 
the  Arcadian  corps  stationed  opposite  the  Argos  tower 
merely  stood  in  amazement,  as  with  a  clatter  and  a  rush 

432 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

the  Mainats  streamed  by  them  and  up  the  wall  in  front. 
Agile  as  a  cat,  for  all  his  sixty  years,  Nicholas  laid  hand 
and  foot  on  the  rough  masonry,  and  the  next  moment 
he  had  dashed  down  the  single  sentry  on  the  tower,  who 
was  smoking  and  talking  to  a  woman  on  the  wall.  Then 
fastening  the  rope  to  one  of  the  battlements  he  turned 
again  to  perform  the  crowning  act  of  his  adventurous 
life,  and,  before  two  men  had  swarmed  up,  the  Greek 
flag  waved  from  the  tower. 


CHAPTER   XI 
FATHER  Al^D   DAUGHTER 

Nicholas  waited  there  for  perhaps  a  minute,  while 
the  Mainats  swarmed  up  and  formed  in  lines  on  the 
broad-terraced  wall.  He  had  mounted  to  the  zenith  of 
his  life,  the  glorious  visionary  noon  of  his  hopes  was  his, 
the  work  of  years  crowned,  and  the  foul  disgrace  of  the 
week  of  waiting  over.  When  forty  men  or  so  had  joined 
him  he  bade  them  follow,  and,  falling  on  the  guards  at 
the  gate,  forced  his  way  through,  and  with  his  own  hand 
drew  back  the  bolts  and  flung  it  open.  The  Arcadian 
corps  opposite  had  seen  the  flag  wave  on  the  tower  and 
poured  in,  sweeping  the  Mainats  along  with  them  up  the 
main  street  of  the  lower  town. 

A  pack  of  wolves  Penelope  had  called  them — aye,  and 
the  wolves  were  hungry.  Six  months'  waiting  in  inac- 
tion, all  trust  in  their  captains  gone,  and  the  treacherous 
marketing  of  the  captains  gone  likewise  !  The  soldiers 
knew  that  for  days  past  promises  of  protection  had  flow- 
ed in  on  the  besieged,  and  signed  papers  promising  to 
pay  king's  ransoms  had  come  out;  but  there  was  little 
chance  now  of  these  ransoms  going  where  they  were 
promised.  The  soldiers  would  have  a  hand  in  that  prom- 
ised gold,  it  was  their  hour  now ;  the  captains  might 
flourish  their  infamous  paper  bargains;  let  them,  if  they 
could,  protect  their  pashas,  and  let  them  collect  their 
rewards  from  those  who  spoiled  the  palaces. 

434 


THE  TEEADING  OF  THE  GEAPES 

There  was  such  order  in  the  ranks  as  the  water  of  a 
river  in  flood  observes  when  it  has  broken  its  banks  ; 
among  the  besieged  such  resistance  as  sticks  and  straws 
show  when  the  torrent  catches  them.  Close  on  the  heels 
of  the  regular  troops  fighting  to  gain  an  entrance  came 
the  mob  of  peasants,  the  scavengers  of  the  siege,  who 
had  come  for  the  pickings.  The  troops  thrust  them 
back  till  they  had  themselves  got  in  ;  some  were  ground 
against  the  walls,  some  thrown  under  foot  in  the  narrow 
gateways  and  trodden  by  the  heels  of  the  advancing  col- 
umns. Once  inside,  each  man  went  where  he  willed  or 
where  the  stream  of  men  bore  him,  most  of  them  mak- 
ing for  the  large  houses  stood  round  the  square,  where 
the  richest  booty  was  expected.  Close  above  stood  the 
citadel,  with  empty-mouthed  guns  pointing  this  way  and 
that,  but  silent,  and  if  those  mouths  had  been  roaring 
with  an  iron  death  none  would  have  regarded.  Petro- 
bey,  who  had  joined  the  Mainats,  wondered  at  this  ;  the 
Turks,  he  thought,  might  at  least  sell  their  lives  as  dear 
as  they  could,  but  the  reason  was  not  known  till  three 
days  later,  when  the  citadel  fell.  All  thoughts  of  dis- 
cipline or  order  were  out  of  the  question ;  he  was  jostled 
along  with  the  others  ;  he  was  one  among  many,  and  all 
were  equal,  and  each  was  a  wild  animal. 

The  attack  had  been  utterly  unexpected  by  the  be- 
sieged, and  on  the  north  side  of  the  town  provisions  were 
being  conveyed  over  the  walls  even  while  at  the  Argos 
gate  the  flag  of  Greece  was  flying.  The  hoarse  roar  of 
crowds  came  to  the  servants  of  Mehemet  Salik  as  they 
were  returning  to  the  house  with  meat  and  bread.  There 
was  no  mistaking  that  sound,  and  they  dropped  what- 
ever they  had  and  fled  home  for  refuge,  only  to  find 
the  women  of  the  harem  and  the  other  servants  stream- 
ing out  to  seek  escape.    The  long-delayed  day  had  come, 

435 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  stronghold  and  centre  of  the  Turkish  power  was  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  had  been  slaves  so  long,  and  each 
link  of  the  chains  that  had  held  them  was  broken  by 
another  and  another  Turk  stabbed,  shot,  or  trampled 
to  death.  The  Mainat  corps  gained  the  square  first  and 
cut  into  the  mob  escaping  from  Mehemet's  house,  and 
a  lane  of  blood  and  bodies  marked  their  march.  Me- 
hemet  and  a  few  soldiers  had  barricaded  themselves  in 
an  upper  story  and  fired  a  few  shots  at  the  men  at  the 
rear  of  the  column,  who  pressed  forward  unable  to  get 
in  ;  but  in  ten  seconds  the  foremost  men  had  passed 
up  the  stairs,  broken  through  the  barricaded  doors,  and 
were  on  them.  As  was  their  wont,  they  fought  in 
silence,  and  for  the  most  part  with  knives  only,  and  in- 
side the  room  only  the  trampling  of  feet,  short  gasps, 
and  a  sharp  cry  or  two  were  heard  against  that  long 
hoarse  roar  outside.  Yanni,  who  was  among  the  first, 
forced  his  way  to  where  Mehemet  was  standing,  still 
pale  and  unconcerned,  defending  himself  desperately, 
and  as  if  introducing  himself : 

"He  who  was  to  serve  in  your  harem!"  he  cried,  and 
stabbed  him  to  the  heart. 

Here  and  there  in  the  streets  a  group  of  Turks  col- 
lected, but  the  wave  of  men  passed  over  them,  leaving 
naught  but  wreckage  behind,  and  others  ran  up  to  the 
citadel  gates,  where  they  beat  on  the  door  demanding 
admittance.  But  before  the  gates  could  be  opened  the 
Mainats,  who  had  finished  their  work  at  Mehemet's, 
were  on  them,  as  they  stood  close  pressed,  men  and 
women  together,  in  a  living  wall.  For  an  hour  that 
piece  of  shambles -work  lasted;  they  met  resistance, 
for  the  Turks  were  not  lacking  in  courage,  and  when 
it  was  over,  and  the  living  wall  was  only  a  tumbled 
pile   of  death,  they  went  back,  still   silent  and   stern- 

436 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

featured,  but  leaving  some  thirty  or  forty  of  their 
clan  behind  them,  whose  death  they  were  going  to 
avenge. 

Meantime  the  Albanian  mercenaries,  who  had  con- 
cluded a  truce  with  the  Greeks,  hearing  the  tumult 
begin,  formed  under  arms  in  the  immense  court-yard  of 
the  palace  of  Elmar  Bey,  their  commander,  prepared,  if 
the  Greeks  attempted  to  violate  their  conditions,  to 
charge — and  with  a  fair  chance  of  success — this  disor- 
ganized rabble,  and  cut  their  way  through.  The  mob 
was  swarming  outside  the  iron -barred  gate,  and  some 
were  even  attempting  to  break  it  in,  when  Anagnostes, 
who  was  among  them  and  saw  the  danger,  struggled 
up  to  the  gate,  and  by  his  immense  personal  strength 
pushed  away  the  Greeks  who  were  trying  to  force  it. 
One  man,  thinking  that  there  was  some  vast  treasure 
within,  and  that  Anagnostes  had  made  an  agreement  by 
which  it  should  be  guarded  for  him,  ran  at  him  Avith 
a  drawn  sword,  crying  '^  Treacheo-y  V  and  the  other  lift- 
ing his  pistol  calmly  shot  him  dead.  For  a  few  mo- 
ments his  life  hung  on  a  thread,  but  he  succeeded  in 
making  the  men  nearest  him  understand  that  inside 
were  the  Albanians,  who  had  made  a  truce  and  only  de- 
sired to  leave  the  town ;  and  forming  a  certain  number 
of  men  across  the  street  to  stop  the  mob,  secured  a  clear 
space  for  the  Albanians  to  march  out.  Thence  they  went 
straight  down  the  road  to  the  Argos  gate,  round  which 
lay  the  poorer  quarter  of  the  town,  by  this  time  almost 
entirely  deserted  by  the  Greek  troops,  though  the  hordes 
of  peasants  were  swarming  into  the  houses  to  secure  all 
they  could  lay  hands  on,  and  then  out  of  the  town,  where 
they  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  deserted  camp  at 
Trikorpha,  whence  they  watched  the  destruction  of 
the  city,  and  from  there  on  the  seventh  day  marched 

437 


THE    VINTAGE 

north  to  the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  took  ship  across  the 
Gulf,  and  at  length  reached  their  mountain  homes  in 
safety. 

The  house  of  Abdul  Achmet,  where  Suleima  lived, 
was  near  the  western  gate  of  the  city,  opposite  to  which 
were  stationed  the  Argive  corps.  Though  the  Greek 
troops  there  could  not  see  across  the  houses  to  the  gate 
where  the  flag  was  flying,  they  heard  the  tumult  of 
shouts  and  firing  begin,  they  saw  the  sentries  on  the 
gate  turn  and  fly,  and  without  waiting  for  news  or  in- 
structions they  assaulted  the  gate  and  tried  to  force  it. 
But  it  held  firm  against  their  attack,  and  they  had  to 
blow  out  the  staples  of  the  bolts  before  they  could  get  in. 
The  main  street  up  towards  the  square  lay  straight  be- 
fore them,  and  they  poured  up  it  to  where  they  could 
see  the  crowds  battering  at  the  houses,  killing  all  the 
Turks,  men,  women,  and  children,  whom  they  met  fly- 
ing away.  Among  the  foremost  was  Father  Andrea,  a 
priest  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  no  more,  but  a  fury  of 
hatred.  In  ten  minutes  his  long,  two  -  edged  knife  was 
red  from  point  to  hilt,  and  as  he  dealt  death  to  the 
masses  of  refugees  one  sentence  came  from  his  mouth, 
"  The  sword  of  the  Lord  V  But  just  at  the  corner, 
where  the  side  street  ran  down  to  the  little  door  open- 
ing from  Abdxil  Achmet's  house  below  the  harem  win- 
dow, a  Turk  whom  he  had  charged  attacked  him,  evad- 
ing his  upraised  knife,  and  knocked  him  over,  only  to 
find  death  two  yards  off.  Andrea  hit  his  head  against 
the  curbstone  of  the  pavement,  lay  there  for  a  few  mo- 
ments stunned,  and  came  to  himself  with  the  world 
spinning  round  him.  He  rose  and  staggered  out  of  the 
blinding  sunshine  into  a  cool,  dark  doorway,  some  yards 
down  the  street,  to  recover  himself  a  little  and  to  stanch 
the   blood  which   was  flowing  from  his  head ;   but  his 

438 


THE  TREADIKG  OF  THE  GRAPES 

knife,  which  had  been  struck  from  his  hand,  he  picked 
up  and  carried  with  him. 

Meantime  Suleima,  from  the  latticed  window,  had 
seen  the  charge  of  the  Argives,  and  the  terrified  women, 
calling  on  Allah  and  the  Prophet,  ran  trembling  and 
sobbing  about  like  frightened  birds  caught  in  a  net. 
Abdul  did  not  appear ;  he  had  probably  run  from  the 
house,  and  the  servants  seemed  to  have  fled  too.  Some 
of  the  women  were  for  following  their  example  and  try- 
ing to  escape  to  the  western  gate,  which  was  only  two 
hundred  yards  off,  as  soon  as  the  road  was  more  clear ; 
others  were  for  climbing  up  to  the  roof,  and  hiding 
themselves  there ;  others  for  shutting  themselves  into 
some  small  chamber  in  the  house,  hoping  they  would  not 
be  discovered.  At  length,  amid  an  infinity  of  wailing 
clatter,  they  agreed  on  this,  and  Suleima,  obedient  to 
Penelope's  instructions,  waited  among  the  hindermost, 
and  then  turned  to  slip  down-stairs  and  out.  Zuleika 
saw  her  and  criad  to  her  to  come  back,  then  seemed  dis- 
posed to  follow  herself,  but  Suleima  heard  her  not,  and 
glided  down  the  stairs  like  a  ghost.  On  the  first  land- 
ing she  stopped  for  a  moment  and  took  the  veil  off  her 
face ;  her  black  hair  streamed  down  over  her  shoulders 
reaching  to  her  waist,  and  she  tied  it  up  in  a  great  knot 
behind  her  head.  Then  she  wrapped  her  bernouse  round 
her,  and  waited  a  moment  till  she  was  certain  that 
none  were  following  her.  A  strange  new  courage  made 
steel  of  her  muscles ;  never  in  her  life  had  she  known 
so  warm  a  bravery,  for  when  she  was  out  in  the  boat 
with  Mitsos,  or  returning  to  the  house  after  one  of  those 
excursions,  she  had  trembled  with  fright  lest  she  should 
be  discovered,  and  all  this  last  week  she  had  had  sudden 
qualms  and  shiverings  of  terror  at  the  thought  of  the 
innumerable  dangers  that  lay  before  her.     But  now  that 

439 


THE    VINTAGE 

the  time  had  come  she  slipped  down  the  stairs  as  calmly 
as  she  went  to  her  bed  or  her  bath  ;  she  thought  of  herself 
no  longer,  but  of  the  unborn  babe  she  carried.  A  mo- 
ment's faltering,  a  babbling  word  where  a  firm  one  was 
wanted,  would  be  death  to  that  which  was  dearer  to  her 
than  herself,  and  she  hastened  to  the  doorway,  and  seeing 
that  the  side  street  seemed  deserted,  slipped  out,  strong 
in  the  strength  that  is  the  offspring  of  the  protective 
instinct  for  that  which  is  as  intimately  dear  as  self,  and 
dearer  in  that  it  is  not  self,  which  only  women  can  know. 
That  day  saw  many  bloody  and  cruel  acts,  and  many 
cowardly  and  craven  things,  and  perhaps  only  one  deed 
of  instinctive,  unconscious  heroism,  and  that  was  Sulei- 
ma's  sublime  attempt  to  save  the  child  of  him  she 
loved. 

As  she  opened  the  door,  the  roar  of  death  and  murder 
rose  like  the  roar  of  the  sea,  and  yet  the  dread  of  loneli- 
ness to  one  bred  in  a  chattering  harem  was  hardly  less 
terrible.  Whither  should  she  go  on  her  desperate  at- 
tempt ?  Looking  up  the  street  to  the  main  road  leading 
to  the  square,  there  suddenly  came  into  sight  a  woman 
running  distractedly  with  shrill  cries  towards  the  west- 
ern gate,  and,  even  as  she  passed,  a  Greek  coming  up 
from  the  opposite  direction  ran  her  through  the  body, 
and  wiping  his  sword  on  her  dress,  passed  on.  Cold 
fear  rushed  like  a  river  round  her  heart,  yet  she  would 
not  give  it  admittance.  She  must  be  brave  ;  she  would 
be  brave.  There  was  no  safety  within,  that  was  sure ; 
among  the  rest  of  the  Turkish  women  how  should  she  be 
spared  ?  To  the  south  a  column  of  black  smoke  rose 
from  a  quarter  already  burning ;  flame  and  sword  were 
around  her.  Then  for  fear  she  should  lose  her  courage 
altogether  if  she  delayed,  she  drew  one  deep  breath  and 
stepped  out  into  the  street,  terrible  to  her  in  its  empti- 

440 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

ness,  more  terrible  still  in  the  thought  that  at  any  mo- 
ment it  might  sing  and  roar  with  death. 

Now  it  was  so  that  the  moment  after  Snleima  stepped 
out  of  the  doorway  Father  Andrea,  only  thirty  yards  off, 
got  up  with  a  heart  that  was  one  red  flame  of  anger.  He 
had  wrapped  a  rough  bandage  round  his  bleeding  temple, 
and  that  blow  had  stung  him  to  madness,  while  in  his 
hand,  so  thought  the  wild,  revengeful  man,  he  held  the 
sword  of  the  Lord,  dripping  with  the  blood  of  the  un- 
godly. Man,  woman,  and  child,  they  were  all  one  ac- 
cursed brood.  With  this  thought  whirling  in  his  brain 
like  some  mad,  dervis  thing  he  looked  down  the  street 
and  saw  a  Turkish  woman  walking  towards  him,  and 
"  The  sword  of  the  Lord !"  he  cried  again. 

The  woman  fled  not,  but  ran  towards  him,  crying  out 
''Save  me;  I  am  of  your  blood!"  And  seeing  by  the 
long,  black  robe  and  hair  that  streamed  over  his  shoulders 
that  he  was  a  priest, ''  Save  me,  father  \"  she  cried  again, 
"I  am  of  your  blood  !" 

''Mother  of  devils!  mother  of  devils!"  muttered 
Andrea ;  but  then  stopped  suddenly,  with  arm  uplifted, 
not  ten  yards  off,  for  over  his  wild  brain  there  came  the 
astonished  thought  that  she  had  spoken  Greek.  At  the 
sight  of  that  red  knife,  and  at  those  fierce  words,  Suleima 
uttered  a  little  low  cry  of  despair ;  but  in  a  moment  her 
strength  came  back  to  her  redoubled,  and  she  flung  aside 
her  bernouse,  showing  the  lines  of  her  figure. 

"  Would  you  slay  me,  father  ?"  she  cried  again,  "  I 
who  am  of  your  blood  ?  and  see,  I  am  with  child  !" 

Father  Andrea  paused,  stricken  out  of  thought  for  a 
moment,  and  wiped  his  blade  against  his  cassock. 
"Greek,  she  is  Greek,"  he  said  to  himself,  "yet  from 
the  house  of  the  Turk." 

Suleima  stood  as  still  as  a  marble  statue  and  as  white. 
441 


THE    VINTAGE 

The  black  bernouse  had  fallen  to  the  ground,  and  her  silk 
robe  flowed  loosely  round  her  figure.  He  moved  a  step 
nearer. 

"You  are  Greek,"  he  said  to  her.  "How  came  you 
here  ?" 

"I  know  not/'  said  Suleima.  "I  was  taken  by  the 
Turks  ten  years  ago,  or  it  may  be  twelve.  Take  me 
away,  father,  out  of  this  horrible  town." 

The  two  were  standing  close  together  in  the  deserted 
street.  From  above  came  the  wails  of  women,  for  the 
Greeks  had  forced  their  way  through  the  door  in  the  main 
street  into  Abdul  Achmet's  house,  and  from  the  square 
roared  the  mob.  Andrea  looked  at  her  in  silence  for  a 
moment,  his  brows  knitted  into  a  frown,  his  brain  one 
mill-race  of  thought,  suggesting  a  possibility  beyond  the 
bounds  of  possibility.  At  length  he  spoke  to  her  again, 
wondering  at  himself. 

"I  will  save  you,  my  daughter,"  he  said;  and  as  the 
words  passed  his  lips  his  heart  throbbed  almost  to  burst- 
ing.    "  Quick  !  come  with  me  !     Ah,  wait  a  moment !" 

And  he  thrust  her  back  gently  into  the  doorway  out 
of  which  she  had  come,  while  a  mob  of  his  countrymen 
poured  by  the  opening  into  the  main  street. 

When  they  had  passed  he  turned  to  her  again. 

"  Come  with  me  now,"  he.  said,  making  her  take  his 
arm,  "and  come  as  quickly  as  you  can.  Pray  to  God 
without  ceasing  that  we  get  out  safe.  I  am  too  bloody 
to  pray." 

Once  more  before  they  reached  the  main  street  they 
had  to  hide  in  the  doorway  where  Father  Andrea  had 
sat,  and,  waiting  there,  he  suddenly  turned  and  took  her 
hands,  and  with  his  soul  in  his  eyes  looked  at  her  in 
dumb,  agonized  appeal.  Suleima  met  his  gaze  directly 
and  returned  the  pressure  of  his  hands. 

442 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

"  You  will  save  me,  father  ?"  she  said  again. 

"  I  will  save  jou,"  he  replied ;  "  in  the  name  of  God, 
I  will  save  yon  !     Come  again  on  ;  the  mob  has  gone  by/* 

They  hurried  on  towards  the  western  gate,  he  half 
carrying  her,  in  time  to  get  out  before  another  band  of 
men  streamed  down  from  the  mountains  round.  Father 
Andrea  took  her  to  his  hut  and  bade  her  wait  there  for 
him  while  he  went  and  got  a  pony,  for  she  was  in  no  state 
to  walk.  All  thought  was  drowned  in  one  possibility, 
and  without  speaking  to  her  again  he  placed  her  very 
gently  on  the  beast,  and,  taking  the  rope -rein  in  his 
hand,  led  it  along  onto  the  road  to  Argos  and  Nauplia. 
The  camp  was  absolutely  empty,  and  there  were  none  to 
stop  or  question  this  strange  pair,  and  they  plodded 
across  the  plain  and  stopped  not,  neither  spoke,  till 
Tripoli  had  sunk  behind  the  first  range  of  the  low  hills 
which  lay  spread  round  Mount  Parthenius.  There  he 
led  the  pony  off  the  path  and  left  her  in  a  shady  hollow, 
while  he  went  on  to  the  village  of  Doliana,  half  a  mile 
away,  to  get  food  and  drink  for  her.  Her  time,  he  knew, 
must  be  very  near  at  hand,  and  his  one  thought  was  to 
get  her  safe  to  Nauplia. 

Only  once  on  that  ride  had  Suleima  spoken,  and  that 
when  they  struck  the  road. 

''  We  are  going  to  Nauplia  ?"  she  asked,  with  a  sudden 
npspringing  of  hope  in  her  heart. 

''To  Nauplia,  my  daughter,"  said  Andrea.  "Speak 
no  more  till  we  talk  together." 

''But  father,  father,"  she  cried,  "tell  me  one  thing. 
Where  is  Mitsos  ?     Oh,  take  me  to  Mitsos." 

"  Mitsos,  Mitsos  ?"  said  Andrea. 

"Yes,  the  tall  Mitsos,  who  lives  in  that  house  near  the 
bay." 

Father  Andrea  stopped. 

443 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  What  do  you  know  of  Mitsos  ?"  he  said,  almost 
fiercely,  and  as  the  girFs  tears  answered  him,  he  bowed 
his  head  in  amazed  wonder. 

As  soon  as  he  had  left  her  there  and  was  out  of  sight 
he  knelt  down  on  the  hill-side. 

^'  0  God,  0  merciful  and  loving  One,^'  he  cried,  in  an 
agony  of  supplication  ;  '^  if  this  be  possible,  if  this  be  pos- 
sible, for  to  Thee  all  things  are  possible  !  Did  she  not 
speak  to  me  and  call  me  ^father'?  Oh,  in  Thy  infinite 
compassion  let  her  word  be  true  !  Did  I  not  call  her 
daughter  while  my  heart  burned  within  me  ?  0  merci- 
ful and  loving  One !" 

He  found  Suleima  where  he  had  left  her,  and  the  food 
and  wine  made  her  strength  revive.  When  she  had  fin- 
ished he  came  and  sat  by  her. 

His  voice  trembled  so  that  at  first  he  could  not  form 
the  words,  but  at  last,  getting  it  more  in  control : 

"My  daughter,"  he  said,  "we  will  rest  here  a  little 
until  the  noon  heat  is  past.  And — and,  for  the  love  of 
God,  answer  me  a  few  questions.  When  was  it  you  were 
taken  to  the  house  of  the  Turk  ?" 

His  anxiety  made  his  voice  harsh  and  fierce,  and  the 
girl  shrank  from  him.  He  saw  it,  and  it  cut  him  to  the 
heart. 

"Ah,  my  poor  lamb!"  he  said,  "have  pity  on  me  and 
answer  me." 

"It  was  ten  years  ago,"  said  Suleima,  "or  perhaps 
twelve.     I  do  not  very  well  know." 

"  Can  you  remember  anything  about  it  ?" 

Suleima  shook  her  head  wearily." 

"  I  do  not  know ;  I  was  so  young.  And  I  am  so  tired, 
father.  Let  me  sleep  a  little,  and  when  I  wake  up  I  will 
think  and  tell  you  all  I  know.    You  have  been  very  kind 

to  me." 

444 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

And  she  dozed  off  and  slept  without  moving  for  near 
an  hour,  with  Andrea  sitting  by  her.  Then  she  stirred 
in  her  sleep,  and  without  opening  her  eyes  shifted  her 
head  so  that  it  rested  on  his  knee,  and  so  slept  again. 

At  last  she  woke,  and  seeing  him  above  her,  sat  up. 

"Has  Mitsos  come?"  she  asked.  "Will  he  come 
soon  ?  I  have  slept  so  well,"  and  she  smiled  at  him  like 
a  child  for  no  reason  except  that  she  smiled. 

"  You  were  asking  me — "  she  said,  at  length. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Andrea. 

"It  is  so  little  I  remember,"  she  said;  "I  was  so 
young.  But  it  was  near  Athens  somewhere,  and  on  a 
journey  with  my  father,  that  I  was  carried  off  to  the 
house  of  Abdul  Achmet." 

"Abdul  Achmet  ?"  whispered  Andrea. 

"Yes,  Abdul  Achmet.  He  lived  in  Athens  then; 
he  moved  to  Nauplia  afterwards.  It  was  in  the  sum- 
mer, too,  I  remember  that,  and  that  I  was  with  my 
father." 

She  had  sunk  down  again  with  her  head  on  his  knee, 
but  here  she  raised  herself  on  her  elbow  and  looked  at 
him. 

"He  was  a  priest — yes,  he  must  have  been  a  priest, 
for  he  had  long  black  robes  and  long  hair ;  only  his  hair 
was  black,  not  gray,  like  yours.     Ah — " 

Then  to  Andrea  the  blessed  relief  of  tears  came — the 
great  sobs  that  come  from  a  man's  heart — a  pain  and  an 
exquisite  happiness ;  and  lifting  her  closer  to  him,  he 
kissed  her. 

"Theodora,"  he  cded,  "little  lost  one.  Ah,  ah, 
merciful  and  compassionate  God.  Do  you  not  remem- 
ber, my  little  one  ?  Do  you  not  know  ?  Your  father — am 
I  not  he  whom  you  called  *  father'  as  soon  as  you  saw 
me  ?     God  put  that  word  in  your  mouth,  my  darling. 

445 


THE    VINTAGE 

God  sent  me  to  fetch  you ;  and  I  who  would  have  mur- 
dered you — 0  blessed  Mother  of  compassion  and  sorrows 
—I— Theodora,  Theodora— the  gift  of  God." 

Thus  spoke  they  together,  with  many  questions  and 
answerings,  till  Andrea  was  certain  and  content. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE    SEARCH    FOR   SULEIMA 

Half  an  hour  after  they  had  gone  Nicholas  had  made 
his  way  down  to  where  he  was  told  Abdul  Achmet's 
house  stood,  mindful  of  his  promise  to  Mitsos.  Two  or 
three  of  the  Argives,  who  had  taken  possession  of  it,  and 
were  ransacking  the  rooms  for  booty,  stood  at  the  door, 
and  told  him  that  the  prize  was  theirs. 

''  Oh,  man,"  said  Nicholas,  "  I  come  not  for  booty  ;  the 
gold  is  yours.  But  there  is  a  Greek  woman  in  the  house ; 
it  is  she  whom  I  seek." 

The  men  still  seemed  disposed  to  resent  his  entry,  but 
they  knew  him,  and,  even  in  the  face  of  all  the  disgrace 
the  captains  had  charged,  believed  him  clean-handed. 

''Come,"  said  he  again,  ''I  take  nothing  from  the 
house,  and  when  I  go  out  you  shall  search  me  if  you 
will.     Only  take  me  to  where  the  women  are." 

The  women  of  the  harem  had  been  locked  into  the 
room  overlooking  the  narrow  street  by  which  Suleima 
had  fled,  while  the  men  searched  the  rest  of  the  house  ; 
and  Nicholas,  hearing  that  the  mayor,  Demetri,  was  of 
the  party,  told  him  what  he  wanted. 

''Of  course  you  can  go  in,  friend,"  he  said.  "Here, 
one  of  you,  take  him  to  the  room." 

The  women  were  sobbing  and  wailing  together,  and 
one  cried  out  in  Turkish  as  Nicholas  entered : 

"Kill  us  if  you  will,  but  be  quick." 
447 


THE    VINTAGE 

"  I  touch  you  not,"  said  Nicholas.  ''  Tell  me,  is  there 
not  a  Greek  woman  among  you  ?" 

Zuleika,  for  it  was  she  who  had  spoken,  stopjDed  cry- 
ing for  amazement. 

*'  She  has  gone,"  she  said.  "  Oh,  that  I  had  gone  with 
her.  She  would  not  stop  within,  but  went  down-stairs 
and  out,  I  suppose.  And  in  a  few  days,  perhaps  sooner, 
will  her  baby  be  born.  Oh,  what  are  you  going  to  do 
with  us  r 

And  she  caught  hold  of  him  by  the  arm. 

Nicholas  disengaged  her  fingers,  but  gently. 

^'  You  are  sure  she  has  gone  ?"  he  said.  Then  to  the 
soldiers  who  were  with  him:  *^Will  you  allow  me  to 
search  the  other  rooms ;  it  is  only  she  whom  I  want  ?" 

^' And  what  should  you  want  with  her  ?"  said  one  of 
them,  gruffly.    "All  that  is  in  the  house  is  ours." 

"Oh,  man,  do  not  be  a  fool,"  said  Nicholas.  "The 
woman  is  a  free  Greek,  and  free  she  shall  be.  She  was 
carried  off  by  this  Turk  years  ago.  Come,  let  me  go 
into  the  other  rooms  to  be  sure  she  is  not  here,  for  if 
she  is  not  I  must  seek  her  outside.  It  is  a  promise,  and 
a  promise  to  little  Mitsos." 

The  other  consented,  still  reluctantly,  and  Nicholas 
looked  through  the  house  from  roof  to  cellar,  but  found 
her  not.  And  "Ah,  poor  lad,"  he  thought,  "but  this 
will  be  bitter  news,  for  if  she  has  gone  into  the  streets, 
God  save  her  !" 

It  was  now  one  hour  past  noon,  and  in  the  hot,  breath- 
less air  already  the  thick  sour  smell  of  blood  hung  about 
the  street.  The  square  was  a  shambles,  neither  more 
nor  less,  and  the  dead  lay  about  in  heaps.  With  the 
peasants  from  the  country  had  come  in  hungry,  half -wild 
dogs,  and  as  Nicholas  passed  the  square  again,  now  de- 
serted by  the  besiegers  for  the  great  mass  of  the  town 

448 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

which  lay  higher  up  the  slope  towards  the  citadel,  two 
or  three  of  these  slunk  away  with  red  dripping  mouths 
from  their  horrible  banqueting ;  but  one,  hungrier  or 
bolder  than  the  others,  stood  there  over  the  body  of  a 
child  snarling  at  him.  The  sight  sickened  him,  and  he 
shot  the  animal  through  the  head.  Black  patches  of  flies 
swarmed  in  hundreds  over  the  congealed  pools  of  blood, 
and  rose  with  an  unclean  whir  and  buzz  as  he  ap- 
proached. The  heat  was  stifling,  and  from  the  tower 
wliere  he  had  planted  it  but  four  hours  ago  the  flag 
hung  in  folds  round  its  staff.  The  deadly  taint  of  death 
was  in  the  air,  with  the  foul  odors  of  flesh  already  putre- 
fying. Nicholas  felt  suddenly  faint  and  weary,  but  see- 
ing a  stream  of  water  running  down  one  of  the  gutters 
in  the  square  all  red  and  turbid,  he  followed  it  up  and 
found  where  it  sprang  from  —  a  leaden  pipe  out  of 
a  lion's  mouth  in  one  of  the  side  streets.  He  drank 
deeply  of  it,  and  bathed  his  face  and  hands  there,  and 
feeling  refreshed  followed  on  towards  where  he  knew  the 
Mainats  would  be.  Mixed  with  the  dead  were  not  a  few 
Greeks,  and  as  he  passed  up  the  street  he  saw  with  a 
sudden  pang  of  horror  three  or  four  bodies,  apparently 
lifeless,  stir,  and  from  below  there  came  out  the  hand 
of  a  living  man,  striving  to  get  hold  of  something  by 
which  he  could  pull  himself  up.  Nicholas  turned  the 
bodies  off  and  found  a  Greek  soldier  below,  whom  he 
carried  into  the  shade,  and  fetched  him  water.  The 
man  was  but  slightly  wounded  in  the  arm,  the  gash  was 
already  beginning  to  clot  over,  and  Nicholas,  having 
bound  up  the  place  witli  a  strip  of  his  fustanella,  left 
him,  for  there  was  much  work  to  be  done. 

Right  and  left  from  the  houses  in  the  street  came  cries 
and  screams,  and  now  and  then  a  woman,  with  her  clothes 
perhaps  half  torn  off  her,  would  steal  out  like  a  cat,  and 
2p  449 


THE    VINTAGE 

seeing  Nicholas,  either  steal  back  again  or  run  from  him. 
After  each  of  these,  he  shouted  some  sentence  in  Greek, 
but  got  no  response.  Once  a  child  ran  up  to  him,  howl- 
ing with  tears  and  pain,  and  showed  him  a  horrible  gash 
in  its  arm,  wantonly  inflicted  by  one  of  his  countrymen, 
babbling  to  him  in  Turkish  that  it  could  not  find  its 
mother.  Then  Nicholas,  despite  his  fierce  vows  to  have 
no  pity  on  man,  woman,  or  child  for  the  wrong  that  had 
been  done  to  him  and  his  by  that  pitiless  race,  waited 
ten  minutes  to  bind  up  the  wound,  and — for  what  else 
could  he  do — bade  the  child  get  out  of  the  town,  for  its 
mother  was  outside.  On  his  way  he  passed  several  Greek 
soldiers,  one  dragging  a  woman  after  him,  another  with 
his  hands  full  of  a  pile  of  gold  and  silver,  the  smaller 
pieces  of  which  dropped  through  his  fingers  as  he  walked. 
Nicholas  inquired  where  the  Mainats  were,  and  was  told 
he  would  find  a  number  of  them  at  a  big  square  house 
on  the  slope  up  to  the  citadel  gate,  which  they  had  just 
entered.  Fighting  seemed  to  be  going  on  in  an  upper 
story,  and  even  as  he  approached  a  group  of  men,  Turks 
and  Greeks  mixed,  appeared  on  the  house-top.  Next 
moment  two  who  were  struggling  together  toppled  and 
fell  against  the  thin  railing  which  lined  the  roof  ;  it  broke 
under  their  weight,  and  both  men,  still  clutching  at  each 
other's  throats,  fell  toppling  over  into  the  street  with  a 
horrid  crash  and  sound  of  breaking.  The  Turk  was 
living  and  moved  feebly,  but  the  head  of  the  Mainat  was 
smashed  like  an  egg. 

At  that  moment  Yanni  appeared  at  the  door  of  the 
house,  his  face  flushed,  and  the  fire  of  fighting  hot  upon 
him. 

^'  You  here  ?"  he  cried  to  Nicholas.  "  We  thought 
you  must  be  dead.  Oh,  how  wild  Mitsos  will  be  when 
he  finds  that  he  has  been  out  of  it  V 

450 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

''It  is  of  Mitsos,  too,  I  am  thinking,"  said  Nicholas. 
''  Oh,  Yanni,  come  and  help  me ;  there  are  butchers 
enough.     Help  me  to  find  her." 

Yanni  stared  at  him  a  moment  before  he  understood. 

"  Suleima,"  he  cried,  "  God  forgive  us  all  !  She  in 
this  town,  and  I  had  forgotten,  and  the  Mavromichales 
are  gone  mad  !  If  she  is  there — oh,"  and  he  threw  down 
his  knife,  and  looked  stupid -like  at  his  hands  which 
were  red  and  caked  with  blood  and  dust. 

"  Come  and  search  for  her,  Yanni,"  said  Nicholas 
again ;  ''she  is  not  in  the  house  of  Abdul,  and  every 
moment  that  she  is  in  the  streets  may  be  her  last." 

"  She  left  the  house !  Are  you  sure  ?"  asked  Yanni. 
"  Where  is  it  ?    Let  us  run  there." 

*'  I  have  been  already,"  said  Nicholas.  "  See,  Yanni, 
you  go  one  way  and  I  another,  and  we  will  meet  here 
again  in  an  hour.  Speak  in  Greek  to  every  woman  you 
see." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Yanni ;  "  which  way  shall  I  go  ?  Oh, 
Mitsos,  poor  little  Mitsos,  and  I  killed  two  women  my- 
self, for  they  had  knives  and  tried  to  stab  me." 

"Here,  go  steady,  and  be  sensible,"  said  Nicholas,  for 
the  boy  seemed  half  beside  himself.  "  Pick  up  your 
knife  again ;  you  were  going  unarmed.  Do  not  stop, 
even  to  kill.  Walk  about,  go  where  you  hear  a  woman 
cry — God  forgive  us,  but  that  is  a  task  for  a  hundred 
— and  speak  to  all  in  Greek.  And  be  back  here  in  an 
hour.     Where  is  Petrobey  ?" 

^^  In  the  house,"  said  Yanni,  and  went  off  in  the  direc- 
tion Nicholas  had  told  him. 

On  that  mad  and  ghastly  day  Petrobey  was  one  of  the 
few  who  had  kept  his  head,  and  getting  together  a  few 
sensible  men,  he  had  systematically  worked  his  way  up 
the  street,  stopping  only  to  kill  where  there  were  signs 

451 


THE    VINTAGE 

of  resistance.  Open  doors  and  men  flying  unarmed  he 
left  alone  ;  there  were  plenty  to  do  work  like  that ;  but 
he  forced  door  after  door  where  barricades  had  been  put 
up,  and  attacked  bodies  of  soldiers,  w^io  still  from  time 
to  time  charged  out  of  some  house  or  other,  trying  to 
force  their  way  out  to  one  of  the  gates.  Without  him 
and  a  few  resolute  bands  of  men  it  is  possible  that  great 
slaughter  would  have  taken  place  among  the  unarmed 
rabble  who  had  followed  the  Greeks,  and  that  a  consid- 
erable body  of  men  would  have  collected  and  won  their 
way  out  of  the  city,  and  over  the  now  undefended  hills 
to  Argos  or  Nauplia.  He  had  also  ordered  up,  under 
an  armed  escort,  a  train  of  provision-laden  mules  for  the 
Mainats  who  were  with  him,  and  these  supplies  had  just 
arrived  before  Nicholas  came  up. 

''Stay  with  us  and  eat,  dear  cousin," he  said  to  Nicho- 
las, "for  men  cannot  fight  fasting.  And,  oh,  Nicholas, 
but  my  life  and  all  I  have  are  yours,  for  you  did  not  fail 
me  when  God  and  man  forsook  me  V 

''Give  me  something,  then,  to  take  with  me,"'  said 
Nicholas,  "for  I  have  work  before  me.  That  girl  of 
Mitsos"*  had  left  the  house  before  I  got  there,  and  God 
knows  where  she  is,  alive  or  dead.  I  love  the  lad,  and 
indeed  we  owe  him  a  debt  we  can  never  repay  for  all  he 
has  done,  and  I  should  never  forgive  myself,  nor  hope 
for  forgiveness,  if  I  did  not  do  what  I  could  to  find 
her." 

Petrobey  shook  his  head.  "  She  may  have  taken 
refuge  in  some  other  house,"  he  said.     "If  not — " 

"AVhy  should  she  fly  from  one  house  to  another?  If 
she  is  alive  she  is  either  somewhere  in  the  streets,  or  it 
is  just  possible  she  has  escaped.'^ 

Petrobey  shook  his  head  again. 

"  One  woman  fly  in  the  face  of  that  mob  ?  God  be 
452 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

with  your  kind  heart,  Nicholas.  Poor  little  Mitsos, 
poor  lad  !" 

Nicholas  tore  off  a  crust  of  bread,  and  staying  only  to 
swallow  a  draught  of  wine,  went  out  again  into  the 
blinding  glare  of  the  streets.  Everywhere  it  was  the 
same  ghastly  scene  over  again  :  heaps  of  bodies  ;  gutters 
with  slow,  oily  streams  of  blood  flowing  and  congealing; 
here  a  Turk  wounded  and  in  the  last  agony  of  death  ; 
there  some  young  country  lad  shot  through  the  heart, 
lying  with  open  mouth  and  glazed  eyes,  which  stared 
unblinkingly  at  the  sun.  Sometimes  a  woman  lay  across 
the  path,  while  a  little  baby,  still  living  and  unhurt,  lay 
beside  where  she  had  fallen,  and  groped  with  feeble, 
automatic  hands  for  her  breast.  By  them  all  without 
stopping  went  Nicholas,  peering  about  for  any  sign  of 
a  living  woman,  but  finding  none.  Very  few  apparently 
had  been  so  desperate  as  to  run  into  the  street  like 
Suleima,  and  though  he  felt  the  search  wellnigh  hope- 
less he  went  on.  Once  he  came  across  a  woman  lying  in 
thQ  path,  not  yet  dead,  and  as  he  bent  over  her  she 
opened  her  eyes  and  spoke  to  him  in  Turkish.  Nicholas 
questioned  her  in  Greek,  but  she  did  not  understand, 
and  he  went  on  again.  In  a  little  more  than  an  hour  he 
was  back  and  found  Yanni  waiting  for  him,  but  he  too 
had  seen  no  sign  of  her  they  had  never  seen  but  sought. 

All  that  afternoon  the  work  went  on,  and  at  sunset 
Petrobey  set  a  strong  watch  at  all  the  gates,  and  he  with 
most  of  the  men  went  to  sleep  in  the  camp  outside, 
where  the  air  was  less  stifling  and  the  poisonous  breath 
from  the  murdered  town  came  not.  But  Nicholas,  who 
still  hoped  against  hope,  would  not  leave  the  place  ;  by 
night,  he  thought,  if  Suleima  was  in  hiding  somewhere 
in  the  town  she  might  try  to  steal  back  to  the  house,  or 
attempt  to  escape  by  one  of  the  gates ;  and  he  sat  wait- 

453 


THE    VINTAGE 

ing  in  the  doorway  of  Abdul  Achmet's  house  till  he  fell 
asleep  from  sheer  weariness,  having  seen  naught  but  the 
dogs  paddling  about  on  their  horrible  errands.  He  woke 
early,  before  it  was  dawn,  shivering  and  feeling  ill ;  and 
thinking  that  his  chill  came  only  from  exposure  to  the 
night  air,  got  up  and  walked  about,  waiting  for  day. 
As  soon  as  it  was  light  he  went  out  of  the  south  gate  to 
the  Mainat  camp,  and  had  breakfast  with  Petrobey,  who 
shook  his  head  sadly  over  the  absence  of  news. 

Some  sort  of  order  was  restored  in  the  camp  that  day, 
and  a  third  part  of  each  of  the  four  regular  corps  was 
stationed  to  blockade  the  citadel,  while  the  others,  in  a 
more  orderly  manner  and  under  the  command  of  officers, 
went  on  with  the  sack  of  the  town.  The  rabble  who  had 
passed  in  the  day  before  were  driven  out  of  the  place, 
and  a  watch  set  at  each  of  the  gates  ;  but  these  measures 
were  only  half  successful,  for  many  took  to  hiding  in 
the  deserted  houses,  or,  having  been  ejected,  climbed 
back  again  at  the  Argive  tower,  or  at  other  points  of 
the  walls  where  they  could  find  entrance.  Already 
many  of  the  Greeks  were  ill  with  an  ill  -  defined  fever, 
which  Petrobey  put  down  to  the  effects  of  the  foul, 
pestilence-laden  atmosphere,  and  lie  employed  a  number 
of  men  to  cart  the  dead  out  of  the  city  and  burn  them. 
But  they  were  not  able  to  keep  pace  with  the  massacring 
which  went  on  all  day,  and  that  evening  the  fever  took 
a  more  pronounced  and  violent  form  in  many  of  the 
cases,  and  before  the  morning  of  the  7th  fifty  or  more 
Greeks,  chiefly  countrymen,  who  had  slept  two  nights 
in  the  streets,  were  dead. 

Just  before  dawn  on  the  7th  a  party  of  Turks  made 
a  sortie  from  the  citadel  and  broke  through  the  Greek 
lines.  The  alarm  was  given  at  once  by  the  sentries,  but 
the  Turks  were  already  among  them  before  they  were 

454 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

able  to  make  any  resistance,  and  after  not  more  than  ten 
minutes'  fighting,  they  had  broken  their  way  through, 
and  were  doubling  down  the  street  towards  the  Argive 
gate.  The  guard  there  had  sprung  to  arms  at  the  sound 
of  the  disturbance  above,  and  they  engaged  the  Turks 
with  somewhat  better  success,  but  more  than  half  the 
original  number  got  through  and  made  straight  for  the 
unguarded  hills  between  the  plain  and  Argos. 

Nicholas,  who  had  passed  a  feverish,  tossing  night, 
feeling  weak  and  weary,  yet  unable  to  sleep,  had  sprung 
up  at  once  on  the  alarm,  and  was  among  the  first  to 
meet  the  charge.  In  the  darkness  the  fighting  was  wild 
and  random ;  they  fought  with  shadows,  and  parrying  a 
sword  thrust  aimed  at  his  head,  though  he  turned  the 
blow  aside,  he  felt  the  weapon  wound  him  just  below  the 
shoulder,  and  the  edge  grate  on  the  bone.  Such  rough 
aid  as  could  be  given  him  was  at  once  administered. 
His  arm  was  tightly  bound  above  the  wound  to  stop  the 
bleeding  from  the  severed  artery,  and,  after  the  rough 
but  often  effective  surgery  of  the  day,  the  severed  ends 
of  the  artery  were  cauterized  and  bound  up,  and  the 
edges  of  the  wound  were  brought  together.  No  serious 
consequences  were  expected,  for  the  flow  of  blood  was 
soon  checked,  but  for  the  present  any  further  search  for 
Suleima  was  out  of  the  question.  But  a  couple  of  hours 
later  he  grew  more  feverish  and  restless,  and  by  ten 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  he  was  delirious,  down 
with  that  swift  and  terrible  fever  which  during  the  past 
night  had  already  claimed  many  victims. 

At  mid-day  the  remainder  of  the  garrison  in  the 
citadel  surrendered  unconditionally  from  want  of  water, 
for  the  whole  supply  had  come  from  the  lower  town, 
and  ten  minutes  later  the  Greek  flag  was  flying  from  the 
tower.      The  shouts  with  which   it  was   hailed   roused 

455 


THE    VINTAGE 

Nicholas,  who  had  sunk  into  a  heavy  sort  of  stupor,  and 
he  found  Yanni  sitting  by  his  side. 

"What  is  itr'  he  asked.  *^Have  they  found  Sulei- 
ma  ?" 

*^  It  is  the  citadel  which  has  surrendered/^  said  Yanni ; 
"they  have  hoisted  the  flag  on  the  tower." 

Nicholas  half  raised  himself.  "  Then  the  Morea  is 
free  from  Corinth  to  Maina,"  he  said.  "  0  merciful  and 
gracious  Virgin  !     It  only  remains  to  find  Suleima." 

Presently  after,  he  sank  back  into  a  stupor  again, 
though  every  now  and  then  he  would  stir  and  mutter 
something  to  himself. 

"  Why  does  not  little  Mitsos  come  ?"  he  said,  once ; 
"  tell  him  I  w^ant  him.  I  did  all  I  could  to  find  her,  but 
it  was  no  use.  Little  Mitsos,  there  will  be  no  more  fire- 
ships  ...  it  was  a  devilish  task  to  set  you  .  .  .  don't 
you  see  the  flag  is  flying  ;  Tripoli  has  fallen  ;  the  Turks 
and  their  lusts  are  over  forever ;  we  are  free  V 

Then  suddenly,  in  the  loud  strong  voice  which  Yanni 
knew  so  well  :  "  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war  V  he  cried. 

The  news  had  run  about  the  camp  that  Nicholas  was 
down  with  the  fever,  and  for  the  moment  all  paused 
when  they  heard.  As  every  man  in  the  place  knew,  his 
was  the  glory  of  the  deed,  and  he  the  chief  among  those 
few  to  whose  name  honor,  and  nothing  disgraceful,  no 
weak  deed  or  infirm  purpose,  were  written.  They  had 
moved  him  out  of  the  town  unto  the  higher  ground  of 
the  citadel,  and  into  the  top  room  of  the  tower  on  which 
the  flag  was  flying.  A  great  north  wind  sprang  up  that 
afternoon,  and  from  the  room  where  he  lay  could  be 
heard  the  flapping  of  the  flag.  Those  of  the  men  who 
had  any  knowledge  of  medicine  came  flocking  up  to  the 
citadel,  begging  to  be  allowed  to  see  him,  and  suggesting 
a  hundred  remedies  ;  and  of  these  Petrobey  chose  one, 

456 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

who  seemed  to  be  sensible,  and  who  it  appeared  had 
pulled  a  man  through  the  worst  of  the  fever,  and  he 
gave  Nicholas  such  remedies  as  they  could  get. 

That  afternoon  there  was  a  division  of  the  spoils  taken, 
and  in  the  evening,  but  not  before  a  terrible  and  bloody 
deed  had  been  done,  three  corps  went  back  to  their 
homes,  the  Mainats  alone  remaining.  The  Argives  and 
Mainats,  at  any  rate,  had  no  hand  in  that  devilish  work, 
which  must  be  passed  over  quickly.  All  the  Turks — 
men,  women,  and  children — who  were  found  still  alive 
were  driven  to  the  ravine  behind  Trikorpha,  and  some 
two  thousand  in  number  were  all  murdered. 

It  was,  indeed,  time  to  leave  that  pestilence  -  stricken 
town.  During  the  day  the  fever  had  broken  out  with 
redoubled  virulence  among  all  those  who  had  quartered 
themselves  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  town,  and  the  angel 
of  death  followed  the  victorious  battalions  into  Arcadia, 
Argos,  and  Laconia,  striking  them  right  and  left,  and 
strewing  the  road  with  dying  men.  The  judgment  of 
God  for  those  three  ruthless  days  had  come  quickly. 
Mitsos'  father,  who  had  escaped  unhurt,  doing  his  quiet 
duty  in  the  ranks  of  the  Argives  from  the  first,  saw  Pe- 
trobey  before  he  left. 

"  Tell  Mitsos  to  come  quickly,"  he  said.  ''  And  did 
you  know  Father  Andrea  has  not  been  seen  since  the 
first  morning  ?" 

Meantime,  in  the  north,  it  was  found  that  the  rumor  of 
the  Turkish  landing  was  groundless,  and  Prince  Deme- 
trius was  hurrying  back  to  Tripoli.  Germanos  had  joined 
him ;  but  two  days'  march  off  the  town,  news  of  its  capt- 
ure was  brought  to  them,  on  which  Mitsos  obtained 
permission  to  go  on  ahead  to  report  the  prince's  coming, 
and  announce  that  no  landing  of  Turks  had  taken  place. 
He  travelled   night   and  day,  for   his   heart   gave  him 

457 


THE    VINTAGE 

wings,  and  late  on  the  night  of  the  8th  he  reached 
Tripoli. 

The  unutterable  stench  in  the  streets  struck  him  like 
death,  and  turned  consciousness  to  a  horrible  dread. 
Shutting  his  eyes  to  the  ghastly  wreckage  that  strewed 
the  ways,  more  horrible  under  the  dim,  filtering  light 
from  the  clear-swept  sky  than  even  in  daylight,  he  went 
quickly  up  to  the  citadel,  where  he  supposed  the  troops 
would  be.  He  was  challenged  by  the  sentry  at  the  gate, 
who,  seeing  who  he  was,  admitted  him  at  once.  He  was 
taken  straight  to  Petrobey's  quarters,  in  the  room  just 
below  where  Nicholas  lay. 

The  boy's  voice  was  raised  in  eager  question,  but  Pe- 
trobey  hushed  him. 

'^My  poor  lad,"  he  said,  '^you  must  be  brave,  for  we 
know  you  can  be  brave.  We  have  not  found  her,  and 
in  the  room  above  Nicholas  lies  dying.  He  has  been 
asking  for  you  ;  go  to  him  at  once,  little  Mitsos.  I  will 
send  your  food  there.'" 

Mitsos  gave  one  gasping  sigh. 

"She  may  yet  be  here,"  he  said;  "where  are  the 
women  and  the  prisoners  ?" 

"  There  are  no  women  and  there  are  no  prisoners," 
said  Petrobey. 

Mitsos  stood  silent  a  moment,  looking  at  the  other 
with  bright,  dry  eyes,  and  swaying  a  little  as  he  stood. 

"And  Uncle  Nicholas  is  dying  and  has  asked  for 
me,"  he  said.     "  Let  me  go  to  him." 


CHAPTER  XIII 
NICHOLAS   GOES   HOME 

The  room  was  lighted  by  an  oil-lamp,  turned  low  and 
shaded  from  the  sick  man.  Yanni,  who  had  been  watch- 
ing all  night,  was  lying  on  the  floor,  dozing  from  sheer 
weariness  ;  but  he  woke  at  the  sound  of  Mitsos'  entering, 
and  got  up. 

"  Oh,  Mitsos,  you  have  come,"  he  whispered,  ''he  has 
asked  for  you  so  often." 

''  Leave  me  alone  here,"  said  Mitsos,  and  the  two  were 
left  together. 

Nicholas  was  lying  with  eyes  only  half  closed,  and  Mit- 
sos knelt  by  the  bed. 

''Uncle,  dear  uncle,"  he  said,  "I  have  come." 

Nicholas  only  frowned,  and  passed  his  hand  wearily 
over  his  eyes.  The  other  bandaged  arm  was  lying  out- 
side the  thin  bed-covering  under  which  he  lay. 

"I  looked  everywhere,"  he  muttered,  "and  I  could 
not  find  her.  AVill  little  Mitsos  ever  forgive  me,  I  won- 
der ? — yet  I  did  all  I  could.  Why  does  not  the  dear  lad 
come  ?  Has  he  forsaken  me  ?  .  .  .  'No,  it  will  never  do ; 
this  traffic  brings  disgrace  on  us  all.  Stop  it,  Petrobey, 
stop  it,  in  God's  name.  .  .  .  Ah,  that  is  better,  up,  up, 
hand  over  hand,  quick,  give  me  the  flag.  Where  is  the 
flag,  0  devils  of  the  pit  ?  but  give  it  me.  Ah,  you 
arc  no  better  than  the  Turks.  .  .  .  Yes,  I  will  pay  you 
well  to  give  it  me,  if  that  is  what  you  want.     A  million 

459 


THE    VINTAGE 

piastres  ?    I  will  give  you  two  millions.    .   .   .  Ah,  up 
with  it." 

The  muttering  sank  down  again  into  silence,  and  the 
eyelids  drooped  wearily.  Mitsos,  kneeling  there,  felt 
that  the  life  was  leaving  him.  Suleima  dead,  Nicholas 
dying,  there  was  but  little  left  of  the  Mitsos  he  knew. 
Dry -eyed  he  knelt  there  in  the  blank,  black  despair  of 
a  hopeless  anguish.  If  only  it  was  he  who  was  lying 
there  !  There  was  nothing  to  live  for ;  everything  was 
gone  in  this  moment  of  victory,  when  his  heart  should 
have  been  larklike,  soaring  with  song. 

Petrobey  brought  him  in  food  and  wine. 

"  Drink,  little  Mitsos,"  he  said  ;  ^'  it  is  very  good 
wine." 

But  Mitsos  would  not  even  look  at  it. 

"Leave  me  alone,"  was  all  he  said;  "I  will  call  you 
if  he  wants  you.  Oh,  go,  man,"  he  repeated,  in  a  shrill 
whisper,  and  with  a  sudden  burst  of  childish,  impotent 
anger,  which  gave  Petrobey  a  more  pitiful  moment  than 
he  had  ever  known ;  "may  not  my  heart  break  in  peace  ?" 

It  had  been  past  midnight  when  Mitsos  came  in,  and 
already  the  stars  were  beginning  to  pale  in  the  east  when 
Nicholas  stirred  and  woke.  He  saw  Mitsos  by  him,  and 
knew  him  and  smiled  to  him.  He  spoke  slowly  and 
faintly. 

"Ah,  little  Mitsos,"  he  said,  "so  you  have  come  at 
last,  but  not  much  too  soon.  My  poor  lad,  you  know  I 
did  all  I  could  ;  Yanni  and  I  looked  for  her  everywhere, 
but  found  her  not.  Oh,  little  Mitsos,  my  heart  is  bleed- 
ing for  you.     Tell  me  you  know  I  did  all  I  could." 

At  the  sound  of  that  dear  voice,  obeying  again  the 
will  and  the  brain  of  the  man  he  loved,  no  longer  wan- 
dering idly  as  a  thing  apart,  Mitsos  broke  down  utterly, 
forgetting  all  but  the  dear,  dying  uncle. 

460 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

"  Oh,  yon  will  break  my  heart  if  you  speak  like  that," 
he  sobbed.  *'  I  know — how  can  I  but  know  ? — that  you 
did  all  the  best  and  noblest  of  men  could  do.  Oh,  uncle, 
I  cannot  do  without  you.     Oh,  come  back,  come  back." 

Nicholas's  hand  gently  stroked  the  boy's  head  as  he 
knelt  with  his  face  buried  in  the  bed-covering. 

"Why,  Mitsos,  Mitsos,"  he  said,  ''what  is  this  ?  We 
are  behaving  as  but  poor  weak  folk — I,  whom  the  mer- 
ciful God  is  taking,  and  you,  who  He  wills  shall  live 
and  go  on  with  the  work  we  have  begun.  A  man's  life 
is  but  short,  but,  God  knows,  mine  has  been  partly  very 
sweet ;  and  out  of  what  was  bitter  He  has  given  us  a 
wonderful  victory.  From  Corinth  to  Maina,  little  one, 
a  free  people  thanks  Him.  .  But  that  is  not  all.  From 
Thermopylae  to  Corinth  must  those  thanks  go  up,  and  it 
is  you,  first  among  all  the  first,  for  whom  that  work  is 
waiting.  Promise  me,  little  one,  you  will  not  fail.  For 
this  was  the  oath  you  swore,  and  already,  oh,  i^y  dear- 
est lad,  you  have  kept  it  well." 

''  I  promise,  oh,  I  promise,"  sobbed  Mitsos ;  "  but  what 
am  I  without  you  ?" 

''  God  is  with  you,  little  Mitsos,"  said  Nicholas,  ''and 
He  will  be  with  you,  as  He  has  been  with  you  till  now. 
Tell  me,  is  Ypsilanti  coming  back  here  ?" 

"  He  is  on  his  way,  and  Germanos  with  him." 

Nicholas  frowned  and  raised  his  voice  a  little. 

"I  will  not  die  with  a  lie  on  my  lips,"  he  said.  "He 
is  a  bad  man ;  I  forgive  him  not,  and  see  that  you  do 
not  trust  him." 

"  Oh,  uncle,"  said  Mitsos ;  "  what  does  it  matter 
now  ?  Think  of  him  not  at  all,  then.  This  is  no  time 
for  little  things." 

Nicholas  lay  silent  a  moment,  still  stroking  Mitsos' 
hair. 

461 


THE    VINTAGE 

''  After  all,  what  does  it  matter  ?"  he  said.  ''  The 
man  has  failed  ;  that  is  enough.  He  shall  not  poison 
these  few  minutes.  Oh  yes,  I  forgive  him,  little  one. 
I  do  really ;  tell  him  so  when  he  comes.  If  he  were 
here  I  would  take  his  hand.  But^" — and  a  faint  smile 
came  round  his  mouth — ^^do  not  trust  him  too  far,  all 
the  same." 

His  face  was  growing  very  white  and  tired  in  the  pale 
gray  morning  before  the  dawn,  and  Mitsos,  at  his  re- 
quest, gave  him  water  and  put  out  the  lamp. 

^'  There  is  but  little  more  to  say,"  he  whispered,  "  and 
it  is  a  selfish  thing;  yet,  as  you  love  me,  I  think  you 
will  "hear  it  gladly.  Little  Mitsos,  I  am  happier  than 
the  kings  of  the  earth.  I  am  dying,  but  dying  in  the 
shout  of  victory.  Oh,  I  am  happy  on  this  morning. 
But,  poor  lad,  whom  I  love  so,  it  is  hard — " 

His  face  flushed  suddenly. 

'^Victory  !  freedom  !"  he  said,  raising  his  voice  again 
with  tremulous  excitement;  ^^that  is  the  singing  bird 
in  my  heart,  that  and  you  and  the  clan,  and  Catharine 
and  the  little  one.  Ah  !  merciful  God,  but  I  am  a  hap- 
py man.  AVliere  is  Petrobey  ?  Call  him  in,  him  and 
the  dear  clan.  Kiss  me  first  and  for  the  last  time,  and 
then  bring  them  all  in,  as  many  as  can  stand  in  the 
room." 

Mitsos  hurried  out  to  fetch  them,  and  found  Petrobey's 
room  full  of  men  Avaiting  for  news  from  the  sick  bed, 
watching  faithfully  through  the  night,  and  he  beckoned 
them  silently  up.  The  sun  had  just  risen,  and  the  first 
ray  clean  and  bright  fell  full  on  the  bed  where  the  dying 
man  lay.  By  an  effort  he  raised  himself  on  his  elbow, 
and  looked  at  them  with  bright,  shining  eyes  as  they 
trooped  in.  At  that  sudden  movement  his  wound  broke 
out  afresh,  and  a  great  gush  of  blood  poured  down. 

462 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

Then  suddenly  he  sprang  to  his  feet. 

'^Shout,  shont/'  he  cried,  *^ for  the  freedom  of  Greece  ! 
Ah,  Catharine,  I  am  coming  ;  I  am  coming  very  quickly/' 

On  the  word  a  great  shout  arose  from  the  men  crowded 
into  the  room,  and  in  the  glory  of  that  triumphant  cry, 
standing  there  in  the  dawn  of  the  newly-risen  day,  he 
fell  forward,  and  his  strong  soul  went  forth  free  from 
the  death  that  had  no  terror  for  him. 

They  took  his  body  up  to  the  Turkish  mosque  which 
crowned  the  citadel,  and  at  the  east  erected  a  tall,  rough, 
wooden  cross,  and  there  he  lay  all  day,  and  the  clan  came 
and  looked  their  last  on  the  man  they  had  loved.  The 
hawklike,  eager  eyes  were  closed,  the  eager  nostrils  were 
still,  and  the  dignity  of  death  gave  the  face  a  wonderful 
sweet  seriousness,  and  a  tranquillity  which  it  had  seldom 
worn  in  life.  The  prince  and  Germanos  arrived  before 
noon,  knowing  only  that  Tripoli  was  taken,  and  Petro- 
bey,  to  whom  Mitsos  had  told  what  Nicholas  had  said, 
found  words  which  were  a  humbling  and  an  awe  to  that 
proud  man,  and  together  the  two  went  to  where  he  lay. 
Then  said  Germanos : 

^^I  never  did  him  honor,  God  forgive  me,  in  life  ;  but 
you  will  let  me  do  him  honor,  now  ?" 

The  funeral  was  fixed  for  sunset,  and  he  was  to  be 
buried  just  outside  the  mosque  on  the  highest  ground  of 
the  citadel.  The  first  part  of  the  service  would  be  in 
the  mosque,  the  remainder  at  the  grave,  and  Mitsos,  re- 
turning just  before  sunset  from  his  finished  and  hope- 
less quest,  went  straight  there.  All  day,  first  in  the 
town  and  then  in  that  valley  of  death  behind  Trikorpha, 
he  had  sought  among  the  heaps  of  the  dead,  longing 
rather  to  know  and  see  the  worst,  to  look  once  more  on 
her  face,  than  to  carry  about  with  him  this  load  of  tort- 
uring uncertainty.     He  prayed  that  he  might  find  her 

463 


THE    VINTAGE 

tindisfigured,  that  her  face  might  be  quiet  and  calm  like 
Nicholas's,  for  he  felt  that  it  would  be  a  thing  of  conso- 
lation to  know  she  had  died  quickly.  One  thought  only 
sustained  him  through  those  terrible  hours,  and  that  the 
remembrance  of  the  words  Nicholas  had  spoken.  He 
had  bargained  to  sacrifice  himself  and  all  that  he  held 
dear  for  that  which  was  already  won,  and  in  the  very 
flush  and  presence  of  victory  he  would  not  give  way  to 
the  desolation  and  despair  which  beset  him.  All  day  be- 
neath a  burning  and  malignant  sun  he  moved  among  the 
heaps  of  the  slain,  turning  over  body  after  body,  only  to 
find  more  beneath.  The  kites  and  preying  hawks  chid 
shrilly  over  his  head,  but  he  heeded  not  and  worked  on, 
and  a  little  before  sunset  only  had  he  finished,  and  sat 
down  on  the  hill-side  for  a  moment  to  eat,  for  he  remem- 
bered that  he  had  not  eaten  that  day,  and  he  felt  sud- 
denly faint  with  hunger.  Then  rising  he  went  back  to 
the  town  and  up  to  the  mosque. 

The  sun  was  just  setting,  and  before  they  left  the 
mosque  it  was  already  twilight ;  but  the  men  had  a  num- 
ber of  pitch  torches,  and  the  procession  went  out  to  the 
grave,  headed  by  thirty  Mainats,  who  carried  these,  and 
stood  round  the  newly  dug  grave,  while  the  body,  with  its 
face  uncovered,  according  to  the  Greek  use,  and  dressed 
in  soldier's  clothes,  was  placed  in  the  coffin  and  lowered. 
At  the  head  of  the  grave  stood  Germanos,  and  at  the 
foot  Petrobey  with  Mitsos.  Many  of  the  clan  who  stood 
round  were  weeping  unrestrainedly  and  without  shame  ; 
but  Mitsos  was  perfectly  quiet  and  calm.  Only  once 
when  the  first  spadefuls  of  earth  rattled  on  the  rough 
coffin  lid  did  he  move,  and  ran  forward  a  step  to  the 
edge  of  the  grave  with  one  sob  so  piteous  and  broken 
that  Petrobey  clinched  his  teeth  to  prevent  himself,  too, 
sobbing  aloud.     But  after  that  he  was  quite  quiet  again, 

464 


THE  TKEADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

and  Germanos,  who  had  read  the  service,  stepped  for- 
ward and  gave  the  address  at  the  grave. 

''This  day/'  he  said,  "is  the  birthday  of  a  new-born 
peojDle,  and  it  is  so  that  Nicholas  would  have  you  think 
of  it.  To  all  of  us  has  come  a  great  and  wonderful  vic- 
tory, and  to  all  has  come  a  terrible  loss  ;  but  I  pray  God, 
clan  of  the  Mavromichales,  to  none  of  you  such  an  unavail- 
ing regret  as  is  mine.  Of  myself  I  would  not  speak  to 
you,  but  for  this,  that  before  Nicholas  died  he  forgave 
the  cruel  wrong  I  had  done  him,  and  it  is  that  forgiveness 
of  his  alone  which  gives  me  any  right  to  be  here.  You 
knew  him,  he  was  of  the  same  blood  as  you,  and  it  is  for 
you  all  to  lament  not  nor  wail,  but  think  only  that  God 
in  His  infinite  kindness  has  let  him  see  the  dawn  of  this 
day,  and  then,  while  the  flood  of  joy  burst  his  heart,  has 
taken  him  to  Himself.  To  work  for  a  great  cause,  as 
Nicholas  worked,  and  as  none  but  he,  was  a  great  re- 
ward ;  to  see  the  fruit  of  his  labors  and  so  die,  in  the 
very  flush  of  victory,  is  what  comes  to  but  few.  By  his 
rank  and  his  work  his  was  among  the  highest  places  in 
all  Greece  ;  but  how  did  he  die  ?  As  a  common  soldier, 
serving  in  the  ranks,  and  by  his  own  choice.  And  to 
me  that  appears — though  the  cause  for  it  is  a  bitterness 
and  regret  of  which  I  cannot  speak — a  wonderful  and 
an  appropriate  thing.  Nicholas — the  victory  of  the  peo- 
ple." 

The  darkness  had  completely  fallen  while  he  spoke, 
and  overhead,  through  the  sombre  smoke  of  the  torches, 
the  stars  peered  out  of  an  infinite  depth  of  blue.  In 
front  of  Germanos  rose  the  mould  of  freshly  raised  earth, 
for  they  had  filled  up  the  grave  before  he  began  speaking, 
and  the  wooden  cross  from  the  mosque  had  been  fetched 
out  and  planted  on  the  top  of  it.  Round  in  dense  ranks 
stood  the  Mainats,  the  flickering  glare  of  the  torches 
2g  465 


THE    VINTAGE 

striking  strong  light  and  sliadows  on  their  brown  faces. 
But  by  degrees  the  torches  planted  on  long  stakes  round 
the  grave  began  to  burn  low ;  now  and  then  one  would 
shoot  up  with  a  sudden  flare  and  die  out  again,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  more  they  had  all  burned  down,  and  only 
smouldering  red  cores  of  glowing  ash  remained.  From 
the  darkness  Germanos^s  voice  came  slow  and  solemn  at 
first,  but  as  he  went  on  he  gained  force  and  vigor. 

^'  The  birthday  of  the  people — think  of  this  day  thus, 
and  then  of  him  whom  you  loved — the  victory  of  the  peo- 
ple. This  is  no  time  for  lamentations  nor  weeping,  for 
how  did  he  take  leave  of  you  ?  Not  with  a  wail,  nor  with 
any  regret,  but  with  a  shout.  Think  of  him,  then,  as 
he  took  farewell ;  happier,  as  he  said  to  one  of  you,  than 
the  kings  of  the  earth  ;  mourn  if  you  will  for  those  who 
mourn,  but  rejoice  with  those  who  rejoice.'  And  he 
went  from  us  strong  and  with  but  one  thought,  which 
overmastered  all.  Thus  it  is  no  night  nor  valley  of 
death  he  has  gone  into — or  so  it  appeared  not  to  him — but 
the  dawning  of  the  fresh  day.  Then,  turning  his  brave 
eyes  forward  from  dawn  to  dawn,  what  eyes  should  meet 
his,  or  what  name  should  be  on  his  lips  ?  You  heard  it 
yourselves.  And  is  there  any  cause  for  sorrow  there  ? 
Do  we  weep  and  wail  when  the  bridegroom  meets  the 
bride,  or  when  after  some  long  journey  a  faithful  man 
goes  home  to  her  he  loves  ?  Ours  is  but  a  selfish  grief 
if  we  look  at  it  rightly.  Let,  then,  this  thought  make 
you  strong,  and  because  you  loved  him  turn  from  your- 
selves, who,  God  knows,  have  cause  enough  for  grief, 
and  think  of  him  and  the  shout  and  rapture  of  his  pass- 
ing. Out  of  the  day  he  has  passed  to  the  day,  out  of 
life  into  life,  a  faithful  man  made  perfect.  Call  to  him, 
then,  once  more,  let  him  hear  the  shout  which  he  led ; 
let  him  hear  again,  tor  so  we  believe,  the  voices  he  knew, 

466 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

the  shout  of  the  men  he  loved  and  loves.     Tlie  freedom 
of  Greece,  and  Nicholas — the  victory  of  the  people  !" 

From  the  darkness  the  shout  was  taken  up  and  re- 
peated till  it  seemed  to  shake  and  split  the  darkness. 
As  from  one  throat,  it  burst  up  thrice  repeated,  and  then 
together  they  called  Nicholas's  name  aloud,  and  went  in 
silence  back  to  their  quarters.  Mitsos  returned  with 
Petrobey,  feeling  somehow  strangely  strengthened.  All 
he  had  been  trying  to  feel  all  day  had  been  said  for  him, 
and  all  that  was  brave  within  him — and  of  that  there  was 
much — rose  and  caught  at  it  triumphantly,  and  he  clung 
to  it  with  conviction  and  courage  in  his  heart. 

The  Mainats  were  to  leave  next  morning,  but  Mitsos 
dreaded  any  hour  spent  in  inaction,  and  he  decided  to 
go  himself  at  once  and  again  travel  through  the  night. 
To  stop  here  was  only  to  talk  of  Nicholas,  or  to  grow 
feverish  again  with  the  hopeless,  impossible  hope  that 
Suleima  was  still  somewhere  in  the  town.  With  a  good 
horse  he  could  reach  Nauplia  next  day  soon  after  dawn, 
and  he  longed  with  the  longing  of  a  child  in  some  dis- 
tant land  for  the  familiar  places.  Here  all  that  spoke 
to  him  of  Suleima  spoke  in  words  of  blood  and  cruelty, 
which  stabbed  and  stung  him  into  a  sense  of  maddened 
rage  and  regret.  There,  perhaps,  with  the  thrill  of 
home  about  him,  his  anguish  would  change  to  some- 
thing less  terrible,  and  not  so  discordant  to  the  image 
his  heart  held  of  her.  Even  now,  when  so  few  hours 
had  passed,  he  seemed  to  have  lived  with  the  sorrow  for 
a  lifetime,  and  realized  that  it  was  for  a  lifetime  it  would 
abide  with  him.  The  place  where  he  had  lost  all  he 
loved  had  a  brooding  horror  over  it ;  he  could  not  think 
of  her  as  he  wished  to  think ;  but  by  the  cool  bay,  the 
dark  headlands,  and  that  beach,  with  its  whispering 
reeds,  surely  he  would  find  an  aspect  of  sorrow  different 

467 


THE    VINTAGE 

to  this,  instinct  with  the  bitterness  of  something  which 
had  once  been  infinitely  sweet,  instead  of  with  the  bit- 
terness of  horror  and  hatred.  Above  all,  he  dreaded 
the  moment  of  waking  next  morning,  and  though  many 
morrows  stretched  away  before  him,  each  with  its  cup 
of  remembrance  coming  with  the  light  at  the  end  of 
sleep,  yet  it  would  be  something  over  to  get  rid  of  this 
one,  to  have  another  four -and -twenty  hours  with  his 
sorrow,  which  perhaps  might  help  to  prepare  him  for 
the  pangs  of  that  first  moment  of  the  waking  to  con- 
sciousness again,  and  the  dead  weight  of  grief  which 
would  have  to  be  taken  up  anew.  Then  his  father  was 
there,  and  oh,  how  Mitsos  longed  for  that  quiet,  protec- 
tive presence.  Here,  it  is  true,  were  the  dear  clan  ;  but 
the  clan,  though  the  best  of  companions,  gave  not  the 
fellowship  he  wanted  now.  He  wanted  to  be  alone,  and 
yet  to  have  some  one  who  loved  him  present  with  silent 
sympathy  that  needed  no  words.  Even  the  companion- 
ship of  Yanni,  who  followed  him  with  the  eyes  of  some 
dumb  creature  that  knows  its  master  is  suffering,  yet 
cannot  console  him,  was  irksome.  None  understood  this 
better  than  poor  Yanni  himself ;  and  though  he  tried 
to  keep  away  he  could  not,  and  followed  Mitsos,  unable 
to  say  a  word  to  him,  and  yet  unable  to  leave  him. 

Mitsos  rose  from  where  he  had  been  sitting  in  Petro- 
bey's  room  and  walked  across  to  him. 

''  I  think  I  shall  go  home  at  once,"  he  said.  '*  It  will 
be  better  that  I  should  be  there." 

"But  not  to-night,  dear  lad,"  said  Petrobey,  "and 
not  alone.  We  are  all  coming  to  set  you  on  your  way 
to-morrow." 

Poor  Mitsos  nearly  broke  down  again  at  this.  Some- 
how, a  kindness  reached  the  seat  of  tears,  while  his  sor- 
row passed  it  by. 

468 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

"  No,  I  will  go  alone  and  now,"  he  cried.  ^'  Oh,  I  can- 
not say  what  I  think.  You  are  all  so  good  to  me ;  but 
I  want  to  be  alone.  Say  good-bye  to  them  all  for  me ; 
I  should  not  be  able  to  tell  them  myself — and  good-bye. 
Before  long,  I  doubt  not,  wc  shall  meet  again ;  for  I  jorom- 
ised  him  always  to  be  ready,  and  I  shall  always  be  ready." 

Petrobey  kissed  the  boy. 

'*  Little  Mitsos,"  he  said,  ''we  are  not  men  of  many, 
words  ;  but  you  know,  you  know.     God  keep  you." 

Yanni  was  watching  Mitsos  with  hungry  eyes,  and  he 
turned  from  Petrobey  and  went  to  him. 

"Come  out  with  me,  Yanni,"  said  Mitsos,  ''while  I  get 
my  horse.     Come  as  far  as  the  gate,  if  you  will." 

Mitsos'  horse  was  stabled  below,  and  in  silence  the 
two  went  out  together.  Then,  as  they  turned  to  walk 
down  the  deserted  street  to  the  gate,  Mitsos  passed  one 
arm  through  the  bridle  and  put  the  other  round  Yanni's 
neck. 

"Yanni,"  he  said,  "you  do  not  think  me  unkind? 
But  it  is  this  way  with  me  :  that  somehow  or  other  I 
must  get  used  to  these  awful  things,  and  I  am  best  alone. 
We  have  had  merry  times  together,  have  we  not  ?  and, 
please  God !  we  shall  be  together  many  times  yet ;  and, 
though  I  see  not  how,  perhaps  merry  times  will  come 
again.  I  want  to  be  alone  with  myself  to-night  and  then 
alone  with  my  father,  for  with  him  it  is  different.  But 
of  all  others  in  the  world — why  need  I  tell  you  ? — it  is 
you  I  would  choose  to  be  with.  You  understand,  do  you 
not  ?" 

"Yes,  dear  Mitsos,"  said  Yanni,  rather  chokedly,  "and 
if  ever  you  want  me,  either  come,  or  I  will  come  to  you. 
For,  oh,  Mitsos,  Fm  so  sorry  for  you  that  I  don't  know 
what  to  do  or  say ;  and  I  owe  all  to  you,  and  yet  I  can  do 
nothing." 

469 


THE    VINTAGE 

And  with  that  he  fairly  burst  out  crying. 

They  walked  on  in  silence  to  the  Argive  gate,  and  then 
Mitsos  stopped. 

"  So  let  us  do  as  Nicholas  would  have  us  do/'  said  he, 
smiling  at  the  other,  *^and  think  only  of  this  wonderful 
birthday  of  the  people,  as  Germanos  said.  And  now  I  am 
going.     So  good-bye,  Yanni,  dear  Yanni !" 

"Oh,  Mitsos,  let  me  come  !"  cried  Yanni.  "No,  no  ; 
I  did  not  mean  that.     Good-bye  and  God  speed  !" 

And  he  turned  quickly  and  walked  back  into  the  town 
without  another  word  or  look. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   HOUSE   ON  THE   ROAD   TO   NAUPLIA 

The  horse  Mitsos  rode  had  been  stabled  all  day,  and 
coming  out  fresh  into  the  cool  night  air  kept  him  busy 
for  a  time  snuffing  uneasily  at  the  wafts  of  foul  air  that 
blew  from  the  town,  and  shying  right  and  left  at  shapes 
that  lay  on  the  road-side.  Once  a  dead  body  was  stretched 
straight  across  the  path,  and  the  brute  wheeled  round, 
nearly  unseating  Mitsos,  and  tried  to  bolt  back  to  Tripoli 
again.  But  by-and-by,  as  it  got  used  to  the  night,  and 
the  steadiness  of  the  lad's  hand  gave  it  confidence,  it 
went  more  soberly,  and  settled  down  into  a  gentle  trot 
up  the  road  leading  from  the  plain  over  the  mountain. 
As  they  left  the  town  behind  the  air  grew  fresher,  and 
soon  came  pure  and  cool  from  the  north.  The  night  was 
clear,  but  for  a  few  wisps  of  cloud  that  drifted  south- 
ward in  wavering  lines  of  delicate  pearly  gray,  so  thin 
that  the  starlight  suffused  them  and  turned  them  into  a 
luminous  haze.  The  path  lay  low  between  bold  rocks 
that  climbed  up  on  each  side,  and  to  the  right,  among 
oleanders,  a  stream  talked  idly,  as  in  sleep.  Above,  the 
stars  burned  bright  and  close,  set  in  the  blue  velvet  of 
the  sky ;  and  to  the  east  the  blue  was  tinged  with  dove 
color,  showing  that  the  moon  was  nigh  to  its  rising. 
From  some  shepherd's  hut  on  the  hills  came  the  sharp 
bark  of  a  dog,  sounding  faint  yet  curiously  distinct  in 
the  alert  air,  as  in  the  north  sounds  come  sharp-cut  and 

471 


THE    VINTAGE 

ringing  on  a  frosty  night.  As  lie  went  higher  the  dry 
smell  of  the  summer  -  scorched  vegetation  was  changed 
for  something  fresher,  coming  from  the  npland  pastures, 
and  while  his  horse,  now  requiring  no  attention,  went 
with  straining  shoulders  and  drooped  head  up  from  slope 
to  slope,  Mitsos  knew  that  he  had  been  right  to  come 
alone.  Since  those  nights  he  had  spent  with  Suleima  be- 
tween sea  and  sky,  the  loneliness  and  quietude  of  night, 
and  the  setting  of  the  secret  hours  he  had  spent  with 
her,  had  always  woke  in  him  an  undefined,  incommuni- 
cable thrill,  a  calling  up  of  those  dear  ghosts  of  the  past. 
To  be  alone  at  night  was  nearest  to  being  with  her,  and 
often  in  these  last  weeks  he  had  stolen  out  of  his  hut 
when  the  camp  was  still  and  night  at  its  midmost  to 
conjure  up  that  same  feeling,  which  the  sight  of  objects 
associated  with  some  one  loved  brings  with  it.  Infi- 
nitely dear  as  she  had  been  to  him,  there  lingered  round 
the  remembrance  of  her  a  something  dim,  something  in 
common  with  starlight,  and  great  vague  stretches  of 
silent  sea,  and  the  pearliness  of  the  sky  before  the  immi- 
nent moonrise.  It  was  that  complexion  of  his  sorrow  he 
wished  to  recapture.  Tripoli  was  like  dreaming  of  her 
through  the  horrible  distortion  of  a  nightmare;  this  the 
serener  bitterness  of  a  quieter  vision.  Round  his  thoughts 
of  Nicholas  there  hovered  a  splendid  halo ;  the  glory  of 
his  life  and  the  triumph  of  his  death  made  the  heart  bow 
down  in  a  kind  of  thankful  wonder,  drowning  regret. 
For  if  he,  as  Germanos  had  said,  had  gone  like  the  bride- 
groom to  the  bride,  should  those  who  loved  him  mourn  ? 
Strangely  mixed  had  come  the  boon  for  which  Nicholas, 
for  which  Suleima,  had  died,  and  at  present  he  was  too 
stunned  to  be  able  to  picture  it,  or  the  price  paid,  with 
clearness  of  focus,  for  this  limited  mind  within  us  is  soon 
drowned  by  shocks  like  these  coming  in  spate  together, 

472 


SULEIMA  !'   CRIED   MITSOS  " 


THE  TREADING  OF  THE  GRAPES 

and  we  do  not  realize  them  till  the  first  turbid  flood  has 
passed. 

The  moon  had  risen  before  he  reached  the  top  of  the 
pass,  and,  following  a  strange  but  overwhelming  desire, 
he  pushed  on  quickly,  for  he  longed  to  look  on  the  bay 
again  by  night.  Another  hour's  quick  riding  brought 
him  to  the  head  of  a  ravine  which  ran  straight  down  to 
the  sea,  and  at  the  bottom,  lying  like  the  clipping  from 
a  silver  nail,  was  the  farther  edge  of  the  bay,  ashine  with 
the  risen  moon  ;  and  when  Mitsos  saw  it  his  heart  was  all 
athirst  for  home.  Gradually,  as  he  went  down,  the  lower 
hills  marched  like  shadows  to  the  right  and  left,  and  be- 
tween moonsetting  and  sunrise  he  stood  on  the  edge  of 
the  shelving  cove  again,  where  he  had  brought  the  fish 
to  land  one  night,  and  once  again  all  was  still  but  for 
a  whisper  in  the  dry-tongued  reeds  and  the  lisp  of  sand- 
quenched  ripples.  But  never  again  would  he  and  one 
beside  him  sit  there  filled  through  and  through  with  love, 
and  never  again  would  the  man  he  had  loved  pass  by 
like  the  shadow  of  a  hawk  on  one  of  those  swift,  secret 
errands.  Yet,  as  he  had  hoped,  there  still  lingered  round 
the  place  a  sweetness  of  sorrow.  Horror  had  come  not 
here,  nor  any  bloodshed,  nor  crash  of  war,  and  none  knew 
the  message  the  spot  held  for  him,  its  garnered  store  on 
which  his  heart  had  fed.  Then  leaving  it,  still  rounded 
by  the  infinite  night,  he  passed  on  by  the  white  house  at 
the  head  of  the  bay,  whose  sea-wall  had  been  to  him  the 
gates  of  love  flung  open,  and  just  after  sunrise  he  struck 
the  road  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  and  three  hun- 
dred yards  off  were  the  whistling  poplars  by  the  fountain, 
and  his  father's  house  and  the  garden-gate,  and  the  grave 
and  memory  of  his  boyhood.  The  risen  sun  spun  mists 
out  of  the  night  dews  and  webs  of  sweet  smell  from  the 
damp  earth.     It  struck  a  galaxy  of  stars  from  the  bur- 

473 


THE    VINTAGE 

nislied  surface  of  the  bay,  and  from  the  heart  of  some 
bush-howered  bird  it  drew  forth  an  inimitable  song. 

So  he  was  come  to  the  gate,  where  he  tied  up  his  horse 
while  he  should  go  inside,  yearning  to  see  his  father ; 
but  as  he  walked  up  the  path,  raising  his  eyes  he  saw  him 
already  out  and  working  in  the  vineyard  beyond,  and  he 
would  have  passed  by  and  gone  to  him  there  when,  of  a 
sudden,  he  stopped,  and  his  heart  stopped  too. 

For  the  house  door  was  open,  and  from  inside  —  it 
seemed  at  first  only  his  own  thoughts  made  audible — 
came  a  voice  singing,  and  it  sang  : 

"Dig  we  deep  among  the  vines, 
Give  the  sweet  spring  showers  a  home." 

Then  came  a  little  feeble  cry  .as  from  some  young 
thing,  and  the  singing  stopped,  and  a  mother^s  voice,  so 
it  seemed,  cooed  soothing  to  her  baby ;  and  with  that 
Mitsos  passed  not  on  to  the  vineyard,  but  went  in. 

Suleima,  busied  with  the  child — the  "littlest  Mitsos, ^^ 
so  she  told  herself — heard  not  iiis  step  till  he  was  in  the 
doorway,  but  then  looked  up,  thinking  it  was  her  father, 
though  earlier  than  his  wont.  And  with  a  choking  cry, 
hands  outstretched,  and  a  voice  from  a  bursting  heart : 

"Suleima  !"  cried  Mitsos- 


THE   END 


MAKE  TWAIN'S   JOAN   OF  ARC 


PERSONAL  EEGOLLECTIONS  OF  JOAN  OF  ARC. 

By  the  Sieur  Louis  de  Cojs^te  (her  page  and  sec- 
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14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


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Thisbo^' 


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MAR    51985 


RECEIVED  BY 


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(D3279sl0)476B 


General  Library 

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